A New Lease on Life (Abandoned and Replaced)
by TheViewer-X
Summary: Yu Narukami awakens in a place he doesn't know, a fog concealing the truth once more. Hyde Kido has had his memories stolen, his past in the Hollow Night lost on him. Ruby Rose has made a huge mistake, and now everyone will suffer. Can the three of them discover the truth, or be forced to adjust to a new life entirely? The collision was inevitable. And the impact, unavoidable.
1. Chapter 1: Reawakening

_**A New Lease on Life.**_

A quick note before we begin: This is the first story I've posted, and I was ready to get it released as soon as I was satisfied with it. I could have kept writing it for longer, but I figured that it was not making any marginal difference, and I should just release it as is and go along from here. I apologize in advance for any OOC behavior that might have occurred, as it was completely unintentional if it did happen, and I adore all the characters in this story and hope to portray them all well. Either way, please leave reviews on what you think and any suggestions to help make things better, as I'm really hoping to improve!

* * *

 _ **Chapter One: Reawakening.**_

Team RWBY was a group of Huntresses-in-training, that studied at Beacon Academy, a school designed to train the next generation of Huntsmen and Huntress, to slay the Creatures of Grimm. Creatures of pure darkness that were born from the world of Remnant. The group consisted of a young hero - Ruby Rose, an exalted heiress - Weiss Schnee, a troubled rogue - Blake Belladonna, and a party girl - Yang Xiao Long.

Being Huntresses, they knew they would have to battle evil incarnate and overcome many adversities, and already they had accomplished a great deal during their time at Beacon, especially for their age. They had fought a criminal organization lead by a megalomaniac, and succeeded in breaking down their regime one step at a time. They had even protected their home, the Kingdom of Vale, safe from a breach of Grimm in the heart of the city!

But nothing could've prepared them for the Phantom Field. Out of nowhere, what started out as a normal day quickly changed when they suddenly found themselves a part of some kind of a strange tournament. With little other choice, they fought against individuals from other worlds and collected the items the voice that had orchestrated this entire event called "The Keystones."

Turns out this was a terrible choice, as they were actually pieces of the heart of the device truly responsible for the Phantom Field - System XX. What the device truly desired, was to invade any given world and assimilate it. Since Ruby collected the Keystones and battled many individuals, it absorbed data based on Remnant, and prepared to invade

Now the final battle between Ruby, Weiss, and System XX was still ongoing! The girls had broken the crystalline body of the system's true form down so much it had gotten significantly weaker! The floating mass of red, purple, blue, and yellow crystals still hung in the air, trying in vain to stop the dual Huntresses! Now there was an opening, and one last blow was ready to be dealt!

"Finish it Ruby!" Weiss called. "It's… OVER!" Ruby yelled at the top of her lungs! She proceeded to do lunge at the system, her Semblance fueling her so much she was practically just a red spiral that charged straight at the multicolored form!

With one giant swing of her scythe, Crescent Rose, System XX broke apart at last, crumbling to the ground in a lifeless hull, screaming in its mechanical voice! Ruby's heart was pounding in her chest, sweat dripping down her face. That was one of the most nerve wracking experiences of her life!

"D-did you beat her?" Ragna asked. He was still exhausted after the System exploded into its true form in front of him, forcing him to shield Ruby with his own body. "Confirming status of target…" Es said in her usual robotic monotone. "Activity level decreased… Target silenced. Commencing Phantom Field convergence."

"Nice work!" Yang cheered, pulling Ruby and Weiss into a crushing hug! "Way to go girls!" "When we work as a team, it's a piece of cake," Weiss said, too tired to resist the physical contact.

"Yeah! Chalk up a win for Team RWBY!" Ruby cheered, pumping a fist in the air. "Now we can get back to our world," Blake said calmly, standing off to the side.

"But will it go off without a hitch?" Ruby looked over in the direction the familiar voice came from. "Hazama!" she said. "You're alright!?"

"Since we destroyed something that was meant to be sealed away," Hazama said, "do you really think we'll be able to return safely? Well, either way, it's all very exciting." That was something Ruby hadn't considered.

"What are you saying?" Ruby asked nervously. Did she screw up royal? By destroying System XX instead of sealing it did she not only jeopardize her and her teammates' chances of returning home, but everyone else stuck in the Phantom Field?

"Here, Ruby, take this," Hazama said, tossing something into Ruby's hand. It gave off a faint red glow, which Ruby found to be unmistakably familiar. "Huh? This is… the red Keystone!?"

"I pray that you'll make it home in one piece," Hazama said, giving his distinctive cheshire grin. "So long." Ruby barely had time to gasp, before she suddenly blacked out, and was left feeling nothing

* * *

 _The Fog. The Fog is lying. You're being lied to again. You cannot allow the lie to sink in._

 _You must awaken. You must awaken from this lie. Awaken -_ **Now** _!_

With a sharp intake of breath and a sharper rise from his seat, Yu Narukami sat bolt upright and began breathing hard! His heart was racing, he was coated in sweat, and his lungs hurt from his rapid breathing. He felt as if he had just been in the fight of his life. But the worst part was he could not remember a single thing about it.

He looked around, and saw that he was somewhere he did not recognize. It was a lecture hall of some kind, like you might find in a college or boarding school. Seats in elevated rows for students to sit, and a blackboard against the far wall behind a teacher's desk. Still, while it was familiar on a conceptual level Yu knew for a fact he'd never been in this room before. Not in his own school back home, and especially not somewhere like Yasogami High.

"You okay Yu?" a voice to his right asked. He looked beside him and saw a figure that he did not recognize. It was a boy about his age, maybe a few months or so younger, with wild blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was wearing a school uniform, but same as the room they were in, it did not belong to Yu's school, or Yasogami High.

"Who... why are you dressed that way?" Yu asked, looking more to the obvious than the important. "Uh... it's the uniform?" the boy replied. "Not here it isn't," Yu said. "Yes it is!" the boy said indignantly. "You're wearing it too!"

Yu blinked a few times before looking down at himself. Sure enough, he was in fact wearing the same uniform. Now things had officially gone from confusing, to outright scary.

"Are you sure you're okay Yu?" the boy asked. "No... boy, I am not okay," Yu replied. "Boy?" the blonde replied. "That's rude man! You could at least remember my name!" "But I don't," Yu said, as if it was plain as day. The blonde was left slack jawed as he looked at Yu. "R-really? You forgot?"

"What's wrong Jaune?" a girl's voice asked. Yu looked over John - or whatever his name was - shoulder and saw a rather beautiful girl their age, wearing a girls' version of the same uniform that Yu had found himself in. Her hair was scarlet in color, decorated by a bronze colored tiara, and had a pair of piercing, jade green eyes. She was so gorgeous that just looking at her made Yu blush... and gave him déjà vu?

Wait a minute. Beautiful girl? _Oh no, where is Yukiko!?_ he thought.

Yu looked around nervously, pushing himself up from his seat in order to find any trace of the girl in question, as the others to his right continued to look at him oddly. "Yu? What's going on?" the boy asked. Yu wasn't even listening. He couldn't see his team anywhere! He proceeded to run for the exit! He had to find them!

As Yu moved, he felt like his entire world had been flipped upside down. He couldn't remember a thing, but he knew for sure that something was wrong. In a school of some kind, surrounded by people he didn't know that apparently knew him, and his teammates nowhere to be found.

Everything about this spelt bad news. Something, or someone even, had tried to put him in a place not his own.

To his relief he found them all just outside in the hallway. All of them seemed to be totally fine, and were even conversing casually. All of them were also wearing the same uniforms, even down to Naoto wearing the boys' version of the uniform as opposed to the girls' version.

"Oh, there he is!" Chie said. "Hey Narukami, you fall asleep back there?" "Uh... I... yes..." Yu replied. Why were they acting so casual? Didn't they see what was wrong with all of this? But that did give Yu time for pause as he realized, did _he_ even know what was wrong with all of this?

He just awoke in a panic with no clear memory of what had happened to him last, which was nerve-wracking. He saw himself surrounded by people he didn't know that claimed to be acquainted with him, also disconcerting. And he didn't quite know why, but his muscles were sore and he was short of breath, as if he had been in a fight for his life.

Not only that, but he soon noticed something amiss with the number of teammates that he found present before him. Like, some were missing that should be here. He raked his brain to try and figure it out, but it was almost like something was keeping him from doing so. Yet, he found himself not that concerned by it for some reason, as if a part of him was saying that while some people or other were gone, they weren't in trouble.

It was all infuriating to say the least, leaving Yu nearly tearing his hair from his head! He knew that something was wrong, he just knew, but couldn't remember what! Like when you study for a test but when you see the question the answer alludes you.

"You okay senpai?" Kanji asked. "You look steamed." Kanji looked no different than he ever did, down to wearing his skull shirt under the uniform jacket with no dress shirt present. But once more, something was wrong with this picture.

"Everyone..." Yu said, "what were we doing not too long ago. Like, the past hour or so?" Pretty much everyone began to look puzzled, scratching their heads or cupping their chins as they tried to think over their answers.

"That's what we've been trying to figure out," Naoto replied. "It would seem that none of us can remember exactly what we were doing." "I think..." Yukiko said, "we were in class listening to Professor Port's lecture. Is that right?" "Yeah, that sounds right," Yosuke added. "I don't blame you for falling asleep Yu, as that guy barely ever teaches anything. Plus, I know sleep deprivation is a regular for you."

Yu shook his head. "No. That's not it," Yu said. "There was something else. Something important we were doing." "Are you okay Narukami?" Yukiko asked. asked. Yu proceeded to ignore her as he paced back and forth, struggling in vain to recall what they were doing.

"We weren't in class," he said. "I'm certain of it. I can't put my finger on it now, but I just know we were doing something important. We were in the middle of fighting some people. But I can't recall who."

"Is everything alright?" Yu turned and saw the boy and girl from before leaving the classroom, accompanied by a girl with short red hair with freckles all over her face, and a boy with long black hair that was highlighted in... pink for some reason.

"We're trying to figure that out," Yosuke said. "We must've been in class, right? These guys were there the entire time." "Were they?" Yu asked. "Uh, duh! Of course we were!" the redhead said. "We all go to the same classes!"

"But do we?" Yu asked. "Narukami, what're you getting at?" Chie asked. "Do any of you really know them?" Yu asked. "Like, really know them. Because I don't." Everyone else were left with concerned or confused looks, but this had to be done. If something or someone was trying to twist Yu and his team's perceptions of reality, they wouldn't win. He's been there already.

"Yu, you have to remember us!" the blonde boy, Jaune apparently, said. "We've been classmates since initiation. We're Team JNPR. Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren." Yu shook his head. "No... I-I'm sorry but I don't know you."

The redhead, Nora, jumped in surprise! "You don't think," she said, proceeding to grab Pyrrha by the collar of her shirt, "he's got Anastasia, do you!?" "She means amnesia," Ren said.

"I don't have amnesia!" Yu said. "I just know that something's wrong with this! We don't belong here! My team and I, we were doing something before we ended up here. We weren't in a class."

Pyrrha stepped forward and placed a gentle hand against his arm. "Yu," she said, "We've been classmates for months. I know we have." "But we haven't," he said. "I know what I'm talking about. I... I think something like this has happened to me before."

"What about the time after initiation where you offered to train with me?" Pyrrha asked. "Or the time we all decided to go to the mountains for winter break? Doesn't that ring any bells? Or the time that Ren practically had to drag yours, Yosuke's, and Kanji's bodies away from that girls' bathhouse after that 'mistake.'" "You had to bring that up," Kanji said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"The point is," Pyrrha said, "if there's something wrong let us help you. We can help you remember." "Sure thing," Yosuke said. "We're partners, right? You're our team leader, right? You help us all the time, so it's only right that we help you in return."

Narukami listened intently. There was a part of him that really wanted her help. A part of him that really tried to accept what he was being told.

Maybe... maybe there wasn't really anything that wrong with everything that was happening. Maybe he really was overreacting over nothing and he had just forgotten everything for some reason. Maybe he should just accept the new?

A splitting headache suddenly flared up in his mind, and he fell to his knees, gripping at his skull! The same words that had been echoing in his dream had suddenly begun to flood his mind again! _You cannot allow the lie to sink in again!_

Suddenly Yu remembered! He remembered who he was missing! Rise and Teddie! Where were they!? Where were his friends taken!?

No. No that wasn't it. They didn't go anywhere, he was certain. It was _he_ that had been taken! He and his other teammates! They didn't belong here! He knew they didn't!

He lost consciousness the next second, collapsing against the floor.

* * *

"Guh! Oh, my head!" "Everything okay Kido?" "Sure, fine. Just... felt like somebody died or something." "That's morbid."

Hyde had just left the monotony that was Professor Port's lesson and began walking to his next class with his partner, Orie Ballardiae. They stopped by an open window on their way, taking in the fresh air. He noticed something odd had been going on with Team JNPR and that other big team as he was leaving. But then again something odd was normally happening with Team JNPR.

Hyde couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he recalled the ridiculousness of Team JNPR. If there was such as thing as a joint award for class clown, they would win the award for class circus, no contest. Probably the only team that could rival them for just how entertaining it was to watch them go day by day was Team RWBY. He didn't mean to laugh out of spite, far from it actually. He loved both teams, but they could be so ridiculous with everything they do it was hard to not laugh.

"What's so funny?" Orie asked. Hyde looked at his partner, seeing her adjust her hair that flowed in the breeze. "Just thinking of Team JNPR." "Oh. Them," Orie replied.

Hyde chuckled again. Orie had puffed out her cheeks in annoyance as she recalled. Knowing her well enough, Hyde could understand how she would find the behavior of Team JNPR as anything but satisfying. Orie was all about etiquette and maintaining a prideful image for her order, and anything less than at the very least 80% would be worthy of execution from his partner.

Hyde suddenly dropped his smile. Something came to mind that he hadn't considered, that for some reason was leaving him baffled. _Hang on a minute,_ he thought. _P-partner? Me and Harada? Partners? When was that - how is that - why is that-?_

"Kido? You okay?" Orie asked, looking at him with a puzzled expression. "I... I don't know," Hyde replied. "I got confused for some reason. Something just didn't... feel right."

Hyde tried to understand what exactly was going on in his head. He tried to understand the fault in the idea of Orie being his partner, but could not account for it. They had fought together before, and had been classmates for a few months now. They first met in school and had been close friends since.

So where was the fault in all of that? Everything seemed to add up. They were classmates at Beacon Academy. Nothing had changed.

"Kido," Orie said insistently. "Forget it," Hyde replied. "I think I was just overthinking something." "Right," Orie said. "Well, why don't we keep going? I want to get to class before it starts to rain." "Rain?" Hyde asked. He looked up, and for the first time he noticed that it was a severely overcast day. So much to the point that a layer of fog coated the ground.

Hyde looked suspiciously as Orie kept going, and he hastily tried to keep up. "Okay..." he said quietly. "That's not promising. How did I not notice that before? Everything is so gray!"

Now he definitely felt like something was wrong. It was there in his gut, but he couldn't vouch for it. Just a deep suspicion growing by the minute. Like something sinister was wrapping a strangling grip around Hyde's neck.

* * *

"I had an aneurysm?" "That's correct Mister Narukami. Brought on by pure, unbridled stress. Honestly a lax student such as yourself is the last person I'd expect to suffer from something like this."

After collapsing on the ground in a fit of agony, Yu's team and this group called Team JNPR rushed him to the nurse's office where a teacher by the name of Professor Goodwitch was there to check up on him. She wasn't quite the school nurse, Beacon apparently didn't have one, but Goodwitch was the most qualified to check in the event that something like this did occur.

But that was besides the point. Narukami was not expecting his diagnosis. He wasn't exactly stressed out, at least he didn't feel it. He'd been much more stressed in the past with things like Nanako's kidnapping and the fight against Izanami, but suffering an aneurysm from just getting confused was not exactly something he would've seen coming.

But that's what got him thinking again. His concepts and understanding of the world around him had been turned upside down. He didn't know what to believe anymore, but there was a powerful force inside of him saying that things like Beacon Academy and Team JNPR did not coincide with his team and himself. It was everyone else who weren't thinking correctly, not him.

Now everything had come back like a flood. Everything that had happened in his life to provide a common understanding of everything that was wrong with this situation. Yasogami High, The Investigation Team, his Persona, Tohru Adachi, the fog of lies and Izanami, everything. So, perhaps that had to do with it.

He knew what had happened to him before this. He was dragged from his home into a new world - not the TV World but something else - by a voice that put him into a 'Tag Battle Tournament,' in order to protect a relic of some kind called a Keystone. He was reunited with his entire team save for Rise and Teddie, and were launched into fights against people from other worlds. Then they just... blacked out. Next thing he knew he was here, and nobody remembered what had happened to them.

People saying they've known each other for months when clearly he did not. His own team thinking the same, despite the clear errors with everything happening. He had never felt so utterly isolated. Well, that was a lie, but it was still not a comforting concept to be alone in this endeavor.

"So Mister Narukami," Goodwitch said, "what, pray tell, caused this? If you can recall." "He says he doesn't remember anything anymore," Jaune replied. "Says he has never been to Beacon Academy or met us before." Goodwitch raised an eyebrow.

"I can vouch for myself," Yu replied, getting to his feet. "But before I try, I'll have to talk to my team. Alone."

With little arguing, everyone save for Yu's team left the room. "Tell me everyone," Yu said, "do you honestly think we belong here? That we've been at this school for months?" "To tell you the truth," Naoto said, "not anymore."

"What?" Yu asked. "After you passed out," Yosuke said, "things just sort of began to click." "Yeah," Kanji said. "Like, everything you were saying was making sense while it was everyone else that was crazy."

"Ugh! It feels so weird!" Chie said. "Almost like something is pressing against my brain! Like it's being tenderized!" "Tenderize?" Yukiko asked. "You sure you aren't just hungry Chie?"

Everyone did a comical anime fall after that. Yup, that was Yukiko Amagi. So lovable but honestly kind of ditzy.

"N-nobody's hungry Yukiko!" Yosuke said. "We're trying to figure out what's wrong with our brains!" Yukiko tilted her head. "Yes," she said. "I know that there's something wrong, but honestly I can't tell what."

"I know I'm here, and something is telling me I should be here. But there's a stronger part of me that knows that I'm not _supposed_ to be here. It's very confusing. Sorry I'm not much more help."

"Actually you paraphrased everything perfectly," Naoto said. "Senpai, did you remember anything while you were unconscious?" "Everything," Yu replied. "But what have you remembered?"

"Nothing," Yosuke replied. "All we have are feelings. It's like, we remember things with Team JNPR and Team RWBY, but they just don't feel right. It's like, they're dreams and not memories." "And how does it make sense that they know us?" Chie asked. "We've never even been here, but they're acting like we're best friends."

Narukami raked his brain as he tried to come up with some kind of answers. He was remembering everything and his friends knew that they should be too, but he wasn't sure how to jog their memory. He knew that he just had to find a way! They've been through too much to just forget all of that!

"Chie, Yosuke," Yu said, "don't you remember going to the TV World for the first time? How we met Teddie and began the investigation?" "TV World?" Yosuke and Chie collectively asked.

Yu's heart sank. If they didn't remember something as simple as the TV World it was all over for him! But they had to! It was too important!

"Come on!" Yu said, his aggravation present in his tone. "How did we get our Personas? You have to remember that? We used them to fight the Shadows! We solved the murder case in Inaba! You remember Inaba?"

The others began to look disgruntled. It was as if his words were drilling through the layer of confusion that was covering them. "Inaba?" Naoto asked. "R-right, yes. But- how-... where was that?"

"You have to remember!" Yu said. "What about Rise and Teddie? They're just as much members of our team as anybody here!" "Cool it Narukami," Chie said, holding her head in both hands. "You're giving me a splitting headache." "You have to remember!"

"We're trying," Yosuke said, holding his own head. "Yelling at us isn't going to solve anything!" "What about your Shadows?" Yu asked. "The creatures that took your repressed emotions and displayed them for everyone!"

"Hold on!" Kanji said. "There's no reason to bring that up!" "But there is," Yu said. "You have to remember that! The pain and embarrassment! The things you never wanted to acknowledge or accept!"

"We defeated your inner demons! Together, we were stronger! We harnessed the power of our hearts, our Personas! Remember!"

Everyone promptly collapsed on the ground! Yu stood in place, blinking several times. "Uh... guys?" he asked. He gently shook Yukiko to try and rouse her, but she was out. And so was everyone else.

It seemed that the struggle of remembering everything that had happened really was taxing on the brain. Too much for the person to bother remaining conscious. And that meant Yu had just made the remainders of the mission, a solo act until they could awaken. "Maybe I went a little overboard."

* * *

Yang's foot was tapping impatiently as she waited for the report from her teammates. Her little sister was unconscious. Had been for a what felt like hours. Not promising.

Not long after waking up, Weiss and Blake knew they would have to talk to Professor Ozpin and tell him everything that had happened. Yang opted to wait patiently for them to get back to keep an eye on Ruby in case she woke up. However, her impatience was getting the best of her. She wanted her sister back.

She decided to stop tapping her foot and instead practice some punches and kicks to get out her nervous energy. She recalled that the other girls had taken the red Keystone with them to show Ozpin, which they had found in Ruby's hand upon waking up and trying to rouse their young leader. Yang and Weiss were tempted to destroy it on the spot right then and there because of all the hell it put them through, but Blake thought it'd be wiser to keep it intact and show it to Professor Ozpin as proof of their journey. Ruby had it in a death grip, and they had to practically pry it from her fingers to get her to release.

The door to their dorm room finally opened Weiss and Blake stepped in. Yang didn't look at them, and kept up her brawling against an intangible adversary! "He believe us?" Yang asked. "Surprisingly, yes," Blake replied. "Turns out that he's been 'privy to such things for years.' Or something like that. Bottom line is that he trusts what we said, and honestly, after all we've been through, the last thing I wanted was to argue with him."

"So what should we do now?" Yang asked, delivering a powerful roundhouse kick! "We can't just got to class and leave Ruby here in case she wakes up sick or something." "Thankfully Professor Ozpin has excused us from any classes today," Weiss said. "That allows us to rest and keep an eye on our leader."

"Good," Yang said. "Say, why do you think she hasn't woken up yet?" "Can't say," Blake said. "That Keystone was attached to her the longest, so maybe that has something to do with it?" "And what does Ozpin want to do with it?" Yang asked. "He's just going to hold onto it," Weiss replied, "at least that's what we gathered."

Yang stopped her fighting and looked back at her younger sister, still fast asleep on her bed, her cape used as a makeshift blanket. "With all the beauty sleep she's getting," Yang said, "she'll be drop dead gorgeous by the time she wakes up!" "Really Yang? Now?" both Weiss and Blake collectively asked. "Sorry. Force of habit."

Weiss went to go and take a shower to recover from the stressful ordeal, as Yang merely sat back in her chair. Weiss had referred to Ruby as their leader. IT was rare she'd willingly admit that, outside of some sarcastic banter. Something so insignificant could really spell miles for just how concerned a person could be.

* * *

"Kido? Kido?" "Huh?" "Class is over." "Oh, right. Thanks Orie."

Hyde gathered his things and followed Orie out of the lecture hall. His head was clouded and was becoming more and more irritated. It was as if there was something happening just out of sight that was tugging on his attention, but he had no clue what.

"Okay," Orie said, "next we'll have our combat class with Professor Goodwitch. Do you think she'll object to me sparring Pyrrha again? I mean we do spar on a regular basis, but I think we continue to grow better from each of our matches. She's actually been curious about your abilities for some time now Kido, so you should consider-?"

Orie looked behind her and saw Hyde had spaced out as he followed her. "Kido, are you listening?" "Huh?" Hyde asked. "You did not hear a word I said did you?" Orie asked. Hyde blushed as the both of them stopped and he could not meet her gaze.

"S-sorry Harada," he said. "That was rude of me. But I just feel odd. I can't put my finger on it but I'm just having trouble concentrating."

"D-do you think that you can tell Professor Goodwitch I'll be showing up late? I... I need to get some air." Orie merely nodded as Hyde went on his way. She continued on her way towards Professor Goodwitch's class, but came to a sharp halt as she looked back at Hyde's hasty retreat. _Wait a moment,_ she thought, _why did he call me 'Harada'?_

Hyde split off from Orie, walking through the gloomy atmosphere the day had wrought outside. He took deep breaths as he went on his way, and continued to breathe. For some reason the grim atmosphere of outside felt so natural.

He continued walking, hoping that the cool air would give him some release.

* * *

"Of course there would be fog. Because why wouldn't there be?"

Yu was not having a good time today. The outside of the school was entirely cloaked in fog. Knowing the things that he and his team have seen, that did not bode well for anybody.

He took a breath as he silently made his way out of the nurse's office. Thankfully Goodwitch and that team of students had left, and that allowed him to get out undetected. He did not know why they were convinced he and his team were students here, but either way that needed to be rectified soon. He just needed to figure out how.

He gathered up his teammates and got them all into beds to rest. Hopefully they would recover just as fast as he had from his own aneurysm, and have all their memories restored just the same. Until that time, he needed some release. Something that made sense.

The fog did not make him feel any less uneasy. Fog was something that Yu had grown to fear over the past few events that had befallen him in life. Fog was wear the monsters and murderers hid. Fog concealed the answers and hope. It was a place of sinister intent. _At least it makes sense,_ Yu thought wryly.

Yu continued on his way as dauntlessly as he could manage. He just needed to find something that could explain why he was brought here, and why everyone's' memories were being altered, not just his team but everyone else here too. And most of all, what could cause something like that?

Theories began circling in his mind, and none of them were good. Fear and anxiety were getting him down to the core. He couldn't help but give a smile. "I guess all of this is making me uncharacteristically stressed," he thought.

"Hey," he heard. He stopped in his tracks and looked towards the source of the voice. He saw a boy, probably the same age if he had to guess, standing close by. Naturally he was wearing the same uniform, and he had wild, manic hair that was spiked backward, bleached blonde in the front and black at the tips, and had blood red eyes with cat-slit pupils. But more than that, he was quite familiar.

"Do I know you?" the boy asked. "I think I saw you in Port's class." Yu smiled more at the sight of his companion. "You do," Yu replied certainly. "Really?" the boy asked. Yu nodded. "We fought together before. In the Phantom Field? For the Keystones?"

"Keystones? Phantom... Field?" the boy asked. "Hyde," Yu said, speaking his name, "you know who I am. You know that you don't belong here, right?"

Hyde began gripping his head. His legs buckled and Yu quickly grabbed him by the arms! _Oh please, I do not need anyone else passing out!_ Yu thought.

"Come on Hyde," Yu said. "Remember? We fought together. Against Jubei and Jin. You and I. You saved Yukiko from Mystery Food X! Remember?"

"Gah!" Hyde yelled. He shoved Yu roughly off of him and got to his feet! His nose was bleeding, but he had stabilized himself.

"Hyde?" Yu asked. "Are you alright?" Hyde took a moment to catch his breath, before he looked at Yu and nodded with a, "yes." He wiped his nose, noticing the blood. "But I think my brain melted," he added.

Yu tilted his head curiously. "You remember everything?" "Yeah," Hyde said. "I just... can't exactly place what that whole deal was about. It's like... I never really forgot but-?" He looked at Yu's puzzled expression, almost like he was thinking of something else entirely.

"W-what?" Hyde asked. "Why aren't you unconscious?" Yu asked. "Say what!?" Hyde said. "Were you trying to knock me out?" "No," Yu replied. "But when my friends and I remembered, we all had aneurysms that knocked us out." "Well," Hyde said, "I'm an In-Birth. That might have something to do with it."

"That sounds raunchy," Yu said. "N-not remotely what I meant!" Hyde said. "Jeez! An In-Birth is a type of creature 'without a birth.' Think of them basically being undead. To become an In-Birth, I was bitten by a Void, which usually causes its victims to suffer such extreme madness they lose their humanity and become Voids themselves. I was strong enough to fight it off, and become an In-Birth."

"Having that kind of will is probably why... whatever that was, didn't exactly affect me that strongly. It's like, I didn't forget who I was or what happened to me or anything like that. It's more like my memories were... repressed. I could've remembered if I tried, which is what happened just now, but I just decided... not to."

Yu thoughtfully as he cupped his chin in his hand. "My friends and I being Persona users might have a similar affect. So we just have to jog our memories and that's how we return to normal." "I don't exactly get what you're saying," Hyde said, "but, sure I guess that could be it."

He looked around himself, taking another breath. "Why couldn't I just pretend?" he said quietly. "Huh?" Yu asked. "You have no idea what kinds of things I've had to live with in the past few months," Hyde said. "The reason I didn't try to remember anything? It's because I didn't want to."

"A few months ago, I was just a normal school kid. Now? I'm the 'chosen one,' who's supposed to end the Hollow Night and defeat the Re-Births. Or something like that. I've nearly gotten myself killed a number of times. Honestly, with half of what I've had to go through, I wouldn't have minded just going day-in and day-out living a normal school life with Harada again."

Yu looked sympathetically at Hyde. He could vouch for how awful it could be never being able to live life normally again after some tragic incident turns you into something else. And according to Hyde, he's had to live through a similar series of events.

"I can't vouch for exactly what you've gone through," Yu said, "but I can sympathize. My life hasn't been the same in over a year. And I fear that it may never be the same again. But the one thing we can do? Keep fighting."

Hyde looked at Yu, and gave a gruff chuckle. "Maybe," he said. "So, any theories about where we are or what happened to us?" "Nothing so much," Yu said. "But if we investigate, hopefully we can figure it out."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Hyde said. "Just lead the way, partner." Yu was thrown off for a moment, something which Hyde noticed. "Did I do something wrong?" "No. It's nothing," Yu said. "It's just... I'm not used to having anybody aside from Yosuke call me that." "Oh. Sorry," Hyde said. "Didn't mean to overstep."

Yu merely waved it off, and the two continued to press forward into the fog, hoping to uncover the concealed answers that lay within.

* * *

 _Ruby Rose._

 _I want to be a Huntress. You want to slay monsters?_

 _This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice, you know? We're here to fight monsters._

 _We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second._

 _All in favor of becoming the youngest Huntresses to single-handedly take down a corrupt organization conspiring against the Kingdom of Vale - say aye!_

 _We all had this romanticized version of being a Huntress in our heads! But at the end of the day, it's a job to protect the people. And whatever we want will have to come second._

 _Well, that's why we're here. To make it better._

 _You… have silver eyes._

"What!? Who!? Where!? Why!? When!?"

Ruby was so startled by all of the things that had just overcome her, she ended up falling right off her bed and landing headfirst against the floor! She lay flat on her stomach on the floor of her team's dorm, as she turned her head and released a groan. Zweii plopped over and began sniffing her, attempting to see if she was alright. "Well at least I made it back home," she said.

She stood and looked around her dorm room, hoping to see her teammates all where they should be, but for some reason, they were not present. "Yang? Blake? Weiss?" she asked. No response was given.

Raising a brow, she looked to the corgi that had sat itself at her feet. "You wouldn't happen to know where they went, did you?" Zweii merely gave a little, 'yip!' "Thought not," Ruby said.

She looked around, before finally coming across a note that one of them must've left on the desk. The yellow color of the note made it a near certainty it was written by Yang. She picked it up and brought it up to look over.

 _"Dear sis,"_ it read. _"Weiss said that it's dumb to leave a note, but I figured in case you did wake up while we were gone, you'd like to know where. We're going to get something to eat. We'll bring you back something just in case. Hope you slept well. ~ Yang."_

 _"PS: You did amazing back there in that other world. Just thought you deserved to know first thing you got up. ~ Blake."_

Ruby let out a breath. She loved her teammates, and they were positively crazy about her. "I suppose it's just my natural charm, huh Zweii?" she asked the corgi, who was proceeding to lick himself.

She picked up her poor cape, which had fallen off of her when she rolled off the bed. She loved her cape more than you could believe, and would never dream of ever being without it. It was practically a part of her.

She also grabbed her precious, lovely, awe-inspiring Crescent Rose off the wall and clipped it to her hip. "C'mon Zweii," Ruby said. "We can probably get some air before they get back." Zweii barked happily as Ruby exited the dorm and made her way out.

She left the dorms building as a whole, and saw quickly the thick layer of fog on the ground. "Jeez," she said. "Was it this foggy when we left?"

She continued walking, noticing that not many students were out at the moment. Even if they were in classes, typically a handful of teams were out and about, mainly the transfers for the Vytal Festival. It was a bit disconcerting that nobody was in sight.

As she walked, Zweii continued prancing happily at her feet. She made sure to keep her dog in check as she took in the mystifying atmosphere of Beacon Academy in the muggy, humid weather. "Hello?" she asked. "Is anybody here?"

Obviously there was no response, yet despite being so totally alone, she could not help but feel the disturbing sensation of being watched. But why did she feel so disturbed? She had won the day. She had gotten herself and her teammates home, so why was she so on edge?

Suddenly, not too far away, she heard voices. Relief filled her for a moment, thankful for somebody else being around. She walked in the direction of the voices, unprepared for the shock she would find.

* * *

"Are you looking for anything in particular?" "Typically in situations like these, the Shadows show up without even needing to do anything." "So... you have no clue." "That is fairly true."

Yu and Hyde had pretty much been wandering in circles for several minutes now. Neither had any real concept of the layout for this school, and didn't even have a clue as to what they were looking for at all. But whatever the case may be, the both of them could've sworn that the fog that coated the ground had gotten even thicker, thus blocking their visibility even more.

Hyde was not particularly happy by this case. He wasn't a fan of the fact that something or someone had been screwing around with his brain, making him think he'd returned to a fairly normal school life, something that he secretly wished for more than he cared to admit. He swore that once he found what had done this to him, he would shove a sword in their face and make them regret their decision.

"W-w-what!?"

Hyde stopped in his tracks. He heard a voice he did not expect at all. _Uh-oh,_ he thought. He turned slowly, and saw Ruby not too far away, her jaw practically on the floor!

"Uh... hi," Hyde waved sheepishly. Yu looked back and forth between the two, a brow raised. "Oh. You know each other?" he asked casually.

Finally, Ruby took a deep breath, before releasing a long, heavy, "Huuuuuh!?"

 **(Opening: You're Just Making Us Stronger, By DAGames):**

 **Prey for mercy cause I have ended**

 **And I've defended, my immortal place**

 **My eternal grace will lift through these**

 **Bridges burned**

 **(We overcome to life!)**

 **I'll take the carnage that you bring me now**

 **I seek nothing but the lessons learned.**

 **Deny me courage, deny me apathy,**

 **But I will always journey forward!**

 **So you see me now, I'm up here and you're down there.**

 **Disrupt if you dare,**

 **For an alchemy has awoken.**

 **I have awoken!**

 **In this chosen battlefield you made!**

 **Devour, empower,**

 **But you're just making us stronger!**

 **I have bespoken.**

 **Of our golden age where we climb.**

 **Engage, enrage,**

 **But you're just making us stronger!**

* * *

The wrecked husk of System XX, which laid at the heart of the Phantom Field as all those who were present had vanished from sight, thought as having been destroyed by the Huntresses-in-training, suddenly hummed back to life! Little had anyone present during the final battle against the corrupt machine realized, but someone else had been present just out of sight. They had been present during most confrontations or encounters within the Phantom Field, not as a combatant themselves, but rather an observer, not playing into the System's design.

Now that most of those drawn into this world appeared to be gone, it left them as the one of the only remaining inhabitant s within the Phantom Field to have not been jettisoned to another world. They had clutched to the System's form at the very end as the Field collapsed from its current state, to keep from vanishing with the rest. Now all that was left to do was to reactivate the machine.

By holding their hand out to the crystalline form, they pumped energy into the body of the System, causing it to revitalize! With a loud humming noise, the System rose back into the air! The intelligence of System XX was no longer active, leaving it only a husk of its former self. But so long as all of its capabilities were still active, that could still prove to be very beneficial.

Like a puppeteer pulling on strings, by forcing the energy within System XX to move, they controlled its interior design, allowing all of its programs and capabilities to appear on a hard light screen.

 **Power: 72% and rising.**

 **Keystones Accounted: 2/4 - Battle Data Below Desired Functioning Range.**

 **Warning: Pure Body Sustained Critical Damage. Form Integrity - 78%**

 **Dimensional Viewing: Active.**

 **Dimensional Breach: Inactive.**

They smiled at the last row. "Dimensional Breach." Once the missing Keystones were accounted for, all of the reality altering functions of System XX would be at their fingertips. Truly every world could and would fall under their control. And just their luck that the third Keystone hadn't really left the Phantom Field at all.

 _ **"Now then,"**_ they said, _**"where are you hiding Hazama?"**_

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:  
**_

 _ **Hello readers! This has been something that I've been hoping to get going since practically forever! Ever since I discovered RWBY back just before Volume 3 started, I had hoped to write a story for them. Unfortunately, things did not go as well as I had hoped. Things got real weird real quick, nothing was melding, and it was overall a mess. I never gave up the hope of writing for RWBY, I just didn't know how.**_

 _ **Thankfully, when Blazblue: Cross Tag Battle came out, that renewed my efforts and I was finally able to create something I was satisfied with. Despite knowing nothing about either Persona 4 or Under Night In-Birth when I first saw gameplay and story footage, I grew to love both nearly just as much as RWBY, and that only made me want to create a story staring all of them just that much more. So there are going to be a few things that I want to comment on before we continue.**_

 _ **The biggest thing to note about this story, for those that haven't realized it already, is that the characters from Blazblue will not be present, at least not in a major capacity. The main reason for that, is I have tried for literal months to learn about the world of Blazblue, but I just could not find myself getting nearly as interested in the world of that game as I was the world of Persona 4 and Under Night upon researching the different franchises. And I do want to portray massive aspects of all worlds cohesively, but I just cannot get into Blazblue.  
**_

 _ **It is a well known fact that the story of Blazblue is the stuff of nightmares, so I am not that worried over it. Not to mention, I honestly feel that Persona 4 and Under Night mesh much more with RWBY than Blazblue does with any of them. I honestly do hope that I do not offend anybody by not including Blazblue in this despite being the title part of the game, but that is honestly my feelings.**_

 _ **Aside from that, the story will mainly follow the ending of the RWBY episode of BBTAG, but will simultaneously include elements and ideas that were included in the different episodes. For example, in this story Hyde met up with and protected Yukiko, as he did in the Under Night In-Birth episode of the game, instead of Yukiko meeting up with Yu and the others like she did in the P4A episode, and at the same time Ruby met and teamed up with Hyde against Yosuke and Chie as it happened in the Under Night episode as well, as opposed to fighting against Hyde at the start of the RWBY episode. But for the most part, the events of the P4A episode happened as they did to a degree, mostly coming to a halt after meeting back up with Naoto, and obviously the majority of the rest of the RWBY episode also happened as is.  
**_

 _ **As for things outside of BBTAG, aside from including DLC characters for the game like Yuzuriha, Mitsuru, or Akihiko, characters and plot devices from the three separate worlds that weren't included in the game altogether will be featured, including the overall plot or settings from Persona 4 or Under Night In-Birth. Each franchise has enough to offer to create a story that can span boundless possibilities.**_

 _ **And of course, once the fifth franchise is announced for BBTAG, whatever it may be, I will do everything in my power to incorporate it.  
**_

 _ **And a final note, there will be ship pairings in this. I hope to not have them completely overshadow the other important points in the story, but rather just include a sweet little spice to the narrative. The main pairings I will be focusing on are ones for the main four girls of RWBY. I already know who I want to have paired up with Ruby, Weiss, and Blake, but Yang's the only one that I am left grasping at straws over. She's a really tough character to write a love interest for.**_

 _ **I think it should honestly come as no surprise as people go ALL OUT for pairings in both RWBY and Persona 4, and I am no different. But I'll try to keep it as low key as possible for the sake of the plot, and have things progress in a natural manner. So if you have any suggestions for pairings in this story you might like to see or would make a lot of sense, please let me know and I'll see what I can do.**_

 _ **This story will mainly be a mix of adventure and slice of life, as is per usual for these three franchises, so I do hope that you enjoy. Once more if you have reviews or suggestions, please post them and let me know what you like and what I can improve on. As I said, I always want to improve.**_

 _ **I hope you enjoy reading A New Lease on Life, and until next time, I hope you have a fantastic evening, and I'll see you next time!**_


	2. Chapter 2: Let the Games Begin

_**A New Lease on Life.**_

Quick Note: So, literal seconds after publishing the first chapter I realized a bunch of errors in the opening part of the story, the part which emulated the ending of Episode RWBY from the game, namely with punctuation such as missing periods or too many commas, and I am so embarrassed by that! My face was so hot and I felt so awkward, especially since that was the first part of the story that everybody would read! In hindsight, that moment wasn't even that good altogether and I really should have changed it up for pacing, but was so focused on bigger parts later in the chapter. It just goes to show that you should really read EVERYTHING one last time before you publish, despite any impatience

* * *

 _ **Chapter Two: Let the Games Begin.**_

Ruby's eyes were hazed over. She couldn't see a thing. The fog had grown so drastic that it made it utterly impossible to move without the risk of crashing into something or falling off of something.

Yu and Hyde were nowhere to be seen. She was alone. Not even Zweii was by her feet anymore.

 **Why did you return here?**

She suddenly heard a voice and looked around frantically to find out what where it came from! She suddenly noticed she had Crescent Rose in her hands, primed and ready for combat! For added determination, she pulled her hood over her head.

 **Oh, silly me. I mistook you for someone else.  
**

Suddenly she saw a figure appear out of the fog. She couldn't tell who it was, but it was there. It was only a shape in the mist.

Ruby charged forward, attempting a slash at the apparition! Unfortunately, it didn't actually connect! The figure seemed to have not moved an inch despite Ruby's charge!

 **Oh this is so perfect. System XX proved very useful for continuing my game. And now I have so many new playmates to toy with.**

Ruby transformed Crescent Rose back to gun mode and shot at the figure in the mist, but even with almost a full clip of ammo expunged, the figure did not react in the slightest! Ruby did not have the courage to admit that she was actually terrified at the moment. This thing was scary beyond belief and it took all her nerve for her to not panic and keep silent!

 _Huntresses don't not shrink in the face of adversity,_ she thought. _They stand triumphant, and hold their weapons ready! No matter the challenge-!_

Suddenly she found Hyde and Yu, as they were dropped on her from God knows where! They all crushed Ruby beneath their weight, their weapons all scattering on the floor! "Why?" Ruby asked pitifully.

 **United they stand, correct?**

 **Opening: You're Just Making Us Stronger by DAGames.**

 **Prey for mercy cause I have ended**

 **And I've defended, my immortal place!**

 **My eternal grace will lift through these**

 **Bridges burned!**

 **(We overcome to life!)**

 **I'll take the carnage that you bring me now**

 **I seek nothing but the lessons learned.**

 **Deny me courage, deny me apathy,**

 **But I will always journey forward.**

 **So you see me now,**

 **I'm up here and you're down there.**

 **Disrupt if you dare,**

 **For an alchemy has awoken**

 **I have awoken!**

 **In this chosen battlefield you made!**

 **Devour, empower,**

 **But you're just making us stronger!**

 **I have bespoken**

 **Of our golden age where we climb**

 **Engage, enrage,**

 **But you're just making us stronger!**

* * *

Elsewhere, Weiss Schnee felt like something seriously wrong. Last thing she remembered was destroying System XX with Ruby, which should have returned herself and her team home. After that, nothing. Right?

Wait, there was... something else. She thought that she had gotten back home, and something was wrong with Ruby. At least, that's what she was thinking. She was so exhausted, and she also felt a distinct weight on top of her, pinning her to the ground.

She cracked an eye open, and tried to establish the situation. If something had happened to her team, she was going to figure out what to do. She looked over herself, and if it were even physically possible, her face became even paler!

Laying on top of her was a boy her age, with short, wild brown hair, wearing a pair of big red headphones, and some kind of a school uniform. Although it was not the uniform from Beacon Academy, but rather was more akin to a dark, black suit. But honestly Weiss couldn't have cared less, as she was more concerned with the fact that this boy was ON-TOP-OF-HER!

She tried to get herself free by pushing the boy off of her, but she only managed to disturb the unconscious boy, who attempted to push himself up. Due to his position, he pressed against Weiss's arms and pushed them to the ground! He opened his eyes, which were a light brown in color, and made direct contact with her own pale blue ones! His face turned bright red, and the two could only stare at one another for a brief moment, clearly neither were sure what to do! Finally, the boy shot up to his feet, sputtering and waving his arms frantically!

"Woah-woah-woah-woah-woah!" he said! "I-I-I am so sorry! I-I didn't mean-!" Weiss stood as well, looking at him dead in the eye with a face of pure rage! "Y-you dolt!" she shrieked. "Why in the world were you on top of me!?" "C-calm down!" Yosuke said. "I didn't mean anything by it!" "Of course you didn't," Weiss scoffed, flipping her ponytail.

"Look," the boy said, "how about we start over? I'm Yosuke Hanamura. I am sorry again for what happened. I honestly don't even know how I got here... or on top of you for that matter."

Weiss gritted her teeth, trying to remain angry. Normally if she had been the person she once was before attending Beacon she wouldn't have given this guy the time of day and just took off to find her teammates. But now she could see that it was an honest mistake, and took a breath to remember she'd grown socially thanks to Ruby and the others.

Before school started, she was cold, standoffish, and did not see the point of forming any bonds. She had never seen any real purpose in friendship, but once she got to know her teammates, she quickly saw otherwise. She cherished her friends now, and knew that she shouldn't judge people wrongfully upon just meeting them. A perfect example was Sun Wukong, whom she had seen as nothing more than a filthy thief due to him being a faunus, but now saw as a valuable ally and somebody that Blake deserves in her life.

"I'm Weiss Schnee," she replied quickly. "And, I suppose I understand. It does seem like what happened was an accident." "Whew! Thanks!" Yosuke said. "Just be careful where you step Mister Hanamura," Weiss said. "Right!" Yosuke replied.

The two stood still for a moment, neither saying a word. Yosuke's eyes darted around as he thought desperately over what to say next, as Weiss continued to bare down on him with that ice cold stare. "So, uh," he said, "you wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you?"

Weiss blinked several times, realizing she actually hadn't actually seen where they were, as she had gotten so distracted by the awkward situation her mind was incapable of thinking of anything else. She looked around, and recognized the familiar layout of Forever Fall. A forest purely consistent of Autumn leaves, many of which had coated the ground, as if the forest was trapped in a perpetual fall. "Don't worry," she said, "I know where we are. We can get to my school from here. But I have to ask, where did you come from? As in, where's your home?"

"My home?" Yosuke asked. "Uh... Inaba? I don't suppose you've ever heard of that?" "Not at all," Weiss replied. "Thought so," Yosuke said. "Let me guess, from another world are you? Ended up in some tournament with Keystones and such?" "Correct," Weiss replied.

"Wonderful," Yosuke said. "But if you say this place is from your world, I have to ask, how did I get here?" "That is indeed a good question," Weiss said.

Her mind reeled at the idea. Somebody from that other world somehow ended up in Remnant? How did that make any sense? And if it was just one person, did that mean there would be others as well? And to topit off, if she was alone after being close to her teammates just a moment before, did that mean they were on some other world too?

She suddenly panicked at the thought. Her teammates lost in some other world with no way to get back. It was even worse than thinking of dozens of other people not native to her planet suddenly being dropped here.

Suddenly she recalled what that man in the hat with green hair, a guy that reminded her distinctly of Torchwick they looked so similar, had said when they destroyed System XX. _"Since we destroyed something that was meant to be sealed away, do you really think we'll be able to return safely?"_ Weiss's eye twitched out of stress over this, as she put her face in her hands muttering, "you cannot be serious."

"Huh? Something wrong?" Yosuke asked. "I just realized something," Weiss replied. "I think I know exactly what brought you here. And if you're here, I'm now deeply concerned that we may run into more of those lunatics from that Phantom Field place." "Oh yeah?" Yosuke said. "I guess that wouldn't be good. A lot of those guys were kinda weird and even creepy." "Quite," Weiss said.

"Come on," she added, grabbing him by the hand and proceeding to set off. "I'll explain on the way. Let's just pray that you're the only person that doesn't belong in this world." "Knowing my luck," Yosuke said, "that might just be it. Would suck if I were alone in this though."

Weiss looked him over, considering for the first time how he might be feeling. He met her gaze and pulled his headphones off his head. "My team was with me when I was in that other world," he said, "so hopefully that means they're somewhere around here. Even if I'm somewhere I don't belong, I'd feel a lot better if I had at least my partner with me."

He was acting remarkably calm on the surface, given the circumstances at least, but that might not count for how he was feeling on the inside. The poor thing was completely separated from his world, and had no clue how to get back. But worst of all, he was without his team.

Weiss couldn't imagine how he felt. She recalled her panic over thinking if her teammates had ended up in some other world, and promptly felt a lot more sympathy for Yosuke. She could vouch for feeling better if she had her team with her, even willing to tolerate the idea of having to go through the same situation as Yosuke with Ruby by her side. Oh who was she kidding? She would feel relieved.

That brought her mind back to what she had been thinking before. About returning to her dorm room and taking care of Ruby, or something like that. But if she had gotten back to her dorm, what happened after that? How did she end up in Forever Fall? And where were Blake and Yang?

She turned back to Yosuke, considering his situation once more. Weiss at least had the comfort of being in her own world, whilst Yosuke did not have that luxury. She felt as if she should say something to him in order to help put him at ease. Something to show that she herself had learnt something over the time she'd spent relating and bonding with her team. Finally she thought of something that said for miles.

"You're not alone," she said. Yosuke looked at her in surprise. "We're in this together. No matter what, I'll do what I can to help reunite you with your team. Teams should stick together, no matter what."

Yosuke smiled. "Hey thanks," he said. "Y'know, that makes me feel better." "No problem," Weiss replied. "But don't think I'm not still mad at you for that sleight earlier." "Oh come on! How could I have known about that! I was unconscious!" "That doesn't matter you dolt!" Weiss said. "Jeez you're reminding me of Marie-chan," Yosuke muttered.

Neither of them were aware, but they were both being watched. Somebody had awoken close by to the two of them, and preferred to keep to the distance to merely observe their actions. They didn't enjoy the prospects of working with others, at least those they weren't familiar with, but knew that these two may be helpful in getting the layout for her surroundings. So for the meantime they would keep to the shadows.

The Princess of the Night Blade would wait and see just how these two could help her.

* * *

*Twitch-twitch* *Twitch-twitch*

Blake's Faunus ears were picking up on the sounds of the woods not far away. She too had awoken in Forever Fall out of the blue, and had tried to regain her bearings during that time. She knew she had to be careful, as there were several Grimm around this area that she had to keep an ear open for.

She could hear the sounds of cracking leaves, as if something was walking around close by. However, the sound was distinctly lighter in step than the normal noise of an Ursa, Beowolf, or even a Creep. She hopped from branch to branch in the Autumn trees, before coming across the source of the noise. It was a boy with buzz cut blonde hair, wearing some kind of a skull shirt under a uniform jacket, stumbling around awkwardly, crunching grass beneath his feet.

She raised a brow at the sight of this boy, as he seemed to be utterly disoriented. For some reason he was also lugging a folding chair behind him. He was muttering under his tone, and she began to listen closely.

"This effing place," he said. "I can't believe this. And now I can't find senpai again!? I swear when I find out what the heck is causing this, I'm gonna break their face!" It seemed like this boy was decidedly frustrated, and would probably serve no real threat to Blake, even if he wasn't on her side.

Choosing to confront this boy directly, she jumped down from the tree and stood across from him. He noticed Blake, a thick scowl covering his face. "The hell're you?" he asked. "I could ask you the same thing," Blake replied.

"I don't gotta answer to you," the boy said. "Just buzz off, alright? I'm not in the mood to have anybody messing with me!" "Do you need a hand?" "Huh?" the boy asked. Blake was silent, allowing her question to sink in. "What, do I look like I need help or somethin'?" "Maybe," Blake replied.

The boy looked stubborn, probably thinking of another rebuttle, before his face suddenly softened. He looked to be considering how to respond, before he looked ill once more. "My head hurts," he said simply. "Too much crap in one day." Blake offered a hand. "How about I help you?" she suggested.

Blake hadn't usually been one to offer help to other people. Due to her Faunus heritage, she didn't trust people at first glance and preferred to keep to herself, and this boy's attitude normally wouldn't have helped matters. His outwardly thuggish appearance even gave her flashbacks to that racist bastard by the name of Cardin Winchester. However, after spending time with Yang, Ruby, and even Weiss, she had grown to become more trusting. Now, whenever she saw somebody that needed a hand, no matter how they looked on the surface, she would always offer the help they needed.

The only reason she didn't exhibit this behavior back in the Phantom Field, was they weren't really given the option to help out their fellow contestants aside from partnering in tag battles, which dictated fighting somebody else. Back there, although she wasn't very proud of it in hindsight, she became consumed with the idea of getting her team home. Granted, she wasn't exactly acting rationally in her fights against people like Ragna or Hyde, but as mentioned before, she wasn't really given a choice. She had to think of the good of her team.

"T-thanks," the boy said. "But, you sure you wanna help me just like that? Specially since I was actin' like kind of a dick." "Of course," Blake said. "Helping people is what a Huntress does. My name's Blake Belladonna. What's your name?" "Kanji," he replied. "Kanji Tatsumi."

"And, uh, thanks for offering to help. I apologize for my behavior," he said, doing a respectful bow. "Truth be told, I'm just angry cause my team is missing. I just met back up with them not too long ago, and now they're gone again." "Don't worry," Blake said, "I'm in the same boat. And, I'll help you so you can find them."

She gestured for him to follow. "Follow me, I know where we are. Beacon Academy shouldn't be too far away." "Beacon?" Kanji asked. "What's that?" Blake stopped dead in her tracks.

Somebody didn't know what Beacon was? Beacon Academy? Only the biggest Huntsmen Academy in the Kingdom of Vale?

"Don't tell me," she said, "are you from the Phantom Field?" "Phantom... Field?" Kanji asked. "Wait a second, you mean that freaky place where we had to fight for those Keystone things?" Blake nodded in reply.

That wasn't good. She was hoping that by Ruby and Weiss destroying System XX everything would have gone back to normal. But if somebody from the Phantom Field was now in Remnant, what did that mean?

"Yeah!" Kanji said, suddenly looking rejuvenated! "The place that has my senpai scattered all over the map!? So where's the voice that's doing this now, eh!?"

"Calm down Kanji," Blake said, "it's over. That voice was destroyed. The only problem is that it looks like you've been dropped into _my_ world instead of your own." "Huh?" Kanji asked. "I'm not there anymore? Well how the hell did that happen!? Why aren't I back in my world!? And where're my senpai!?" "I don't know," Blake said, rubbing her eyes. "But we'll figure it out. Don't worry." _And what in the world is a 'senpai'?_ Blake asked.

Kanji continued to behave stubbornly. He stomped his foot on the ground and looked as if he seriously wanted to slug something! However, Blake's levelheaded attitude was doing well for helping him to calm down.

Blake knew that if they just freaked out and started yelling, nothing would change. They had to work together and stay calm if they were going to figure this out. Blake just didn't want to bring up the fact that there might be no idea exactly how to figure this out.

"Right," Kanji said. "You're right. Thank you Blake." Blake nodded. "No problem," she replied. "Still," Kanji said, "it's not like things can get any worse, right?"

Before Blake could speak of the risks involved of saying such things, a large pile of leaves close by suddenly began to shift. The two looked at the pile, and saw a humongous shape emerge from the pile in a shock wave of force! Blake thought on the surface that it was an Ursa Major, but upon closer inspection she realized that it was... a man! A really, really big man!

"Ah! I am free from these leaves! Now where shall I find a challenge to prove my manhood!?" Blake and Kanji could only look in both awe and horror at the massive sight that was Waldstein.

"Run?" Kanji asked. "Run," Blake replied. Both took off faster than you could even think!

* * *

"Hello? Hellooo? Where the heck is everybody!?"

Yang had given up on searching and had proceeded to begin stomping around angrily. She was full of energy she needed to get out, and was disappointed that she didn't have nearly enough battles in that Phantom Field place. She needed some release and something to fight. She was frustrated by the fact that her team was now gone and she had no clue where they were. At least, not on the surface.

She recalled being concerned for Ruby and being just as energized back then. At least, that's how she was thinking. It was weird. The details weren't exact and felt more like a dream than an actual memory. It was confusing as all get out.

She continued walking along a path she thought would take her back to Beacon Academy, but had been walking for what felt like forever. Wherever she was in Forever Fall, she must have been real out there. And now she was seriously starting to go stir crazy from positively nothing happening.

"Ruby!? Blake!? Weiss!?" she yelled. She hoped that they weren't too far away. They must have been close by, right? If she had ended up back in Remnant, they must have been close by too, right? And if her memory/dream served they had left the dorm together, right!?

Suddenly, as she kept going, she heard a new voice call out names she didn't recognize. "Yukiko!? Yosuke!? Narukami!?" Yang came to a stop, looking around for where the source of that voice could have come from. Could somebody else in the same boat as her?

Yang hastened her pace on the trail, having heard the voice not too far away at all! She finally saw who was calling out, a girl her age with short brown hair cut in a bowl style, wearing a dark skirt like Beacon's uniform skirts, and a green sports jacket of some kind. Yang hurried over, curious as to who this girl was and who she was looking for. However, the second the two made eye contact, she came to a screeching halt!

There was something in her eyes, something that the two shared distinctly. They merely stood perfectly still, a pair of violet eyes looking at a pair of dark brown. Finally, the both of them recognized the kinship between them. The heart of a warrior!

Without even thinking, both of them released battle cries, Yang delivering a massive punch with the girl in green retaliating with a mighty kick, both blows meeting inbetween! Both jumped back and entered battle stances! Then, as soon as it started, they both burst out laughing!

"Man that was a hard hit!" the girl in green said. "I'm finding all the girls like me around these parts!" "Agreed," Yang said. "You kick like a beast! Name's Yang Xiao Long. So what do they call you, lean, green, kicking machine?" "Chie Satonaka!" the girl replied.

"Nice to meet you," Yang said. "So where did you come from?" "I'm honestly not sure," Chie said, scratching her head. "I was in this tournament not too long ago and sort of... woke up here." "Huh," Yang said. "Sounds like you were in that 'Tag Battle Scramble' whatever it was it was called. Sorry bout' that."

"Huh? Why do you say sorry?" Chie asked. "Well," Yang said, "it looks like you're in my world now. And last I checked, haven't seen you around here before." "Huh?" Chie asked. "Oh man that sucks! I've gotta find my friends and get back home!" "Don't worry," Yang shrugged. "Me and my own team will get you back home. For now, how bout' we play a little footsie?"

"Huh?" Chie asked. Her face flushed for a moment, before realizing that Yang wasn't exactly flirting. She was rather insinuating they have another fight, as seen by Yang already proceeding to enter another stance. She probably just said that because she saw how Chie kicked.

Chie laughed once more. "You're funny Yang-chan," she said, proceeding to enter her own fighting stance. "This should be awesome! Wa-ta!"

Not far away, the sounds of battle carried over to a lazy someone laying beneath a fall colored tree. One eye peeked open, and she overheard the trading blows and excited calls. She sighed heavily. "Can't even catch a moment to have a nap, eh?" she said.

She got to her feet, slung her jacket over her shoulder, and lugged her heavy blade behind her. "Alright, what's the ruckus?" she asked. She walked over and knelt down on a rock overlooking the ravine where Yang and Chie were trading punches and kicks respectively. Neither one of them were getting a solid hit, but the sight was enough to put a smile on the face of this onlooker.

She watched for several moments, analyzing their fighting. Before too much longer, she tilted her head and realized some faults. "Woah, woah, woah!" she said. "You're both doing it all wrong!" Both fighters came to a halt, and looked up at the rock to see the new arrival.

It was a girl a few years older than the both of them, maybe one or two years, with long violet hair she kept in a ponytail wearing a bright red tank-top and a pair of jeans she left unzipped for... some reason. "Sorry, but if you two are gonna fight, you should learn to operate things a little better." "Operate?" both asked, taking offense to the statement. "Hey, just who do you think you are?" Chie asked. "I've been working my butt off to be a great kung fu master, I'll have you know!" "And I'm training to be a Huntress," Yang added.

The girl hopped off the rock and stood before the two, waving a finger. "Sorry," she said, "while you have skills, you've gotta learn to branch out. Blondie here is focusing too much on punching, and tomboy there isn't even throwing a punch. How bout' big sis here teach you a thing or two?"

"Uh, scuse me," Yang said, "I'm the big sis around these parts." The girl with the sword laughed. "Whatever you say," she said, stabbing her sword in the ground. "By the way, you can call me Yuzuriha."

* * *

Yosuke couldn't feel more awkward even if he dropped his pants in front of this girl. She had barely said a word after she began to lead them away to this 'Academy' she had mentioned. Yosuke attempted conversation at least three times, but even when he offered his best material she denied him even the slightest of smiles. The only two words that Yosuke could come up with to describe her were: Ice Queen.

The only thing that could even so much as count as a conversation between the two was Weiss explaining what she believed was the cause of him arriving in her world, she called Remnant, and him describing his own world. She asked him about things like "Grimm," "Huntsmen," or "Dust," but the versions that he explained to her were not exactly what Weiss was looking for, showcasing how different their worlds seemed to be, but she had yet to explain exactly what her world was like when comparing it to his own. _Honestly in a situation like this,_ he thought, _Yukiko's oblivious and outright rude bluntness would actually be welcomed._

As the two walked, he pretty much just left himself to listen to his headphones on his mp3, which would die soon if he didn't find a way to charge it. As he walked, he suddenly felt a hand tap him on the arm, and he perked up and took off his headphones. "What's up?" he asked. "Do you hear that?" Weiss asked.

Yosuke listened closely, and sure enough he heard something nearby. The sound of trees crashing together steadily becoming louder, and evidently closer. The both looked to each other, utterly dumbfounded by this.

"What the heck is that?" Yosuke asked. "I really hope those aren't Grimm," Weiss said. "My weapon is almost out of Dust." "Dust?" Yosuke asked, still unclear what she meant. "Wait, Grimm? Are those monsters of some kind?" "That's putting it lightly," Weiss said. "So like Shadows," Yosuke said quietly.

Weiss pulled out a rapier from a belt and held it steady. Sensing a battle incoming, Yosuke also pulled out his kunai and began tapping one on his leg as he tended to do whenever a battle was coming, bobbing his head to an invisible beat. "Nice to see that I won't be fighting alone at least," Weiss said. Yosuke offered an encouraging smile. "Just tell me you know how to use those," Weiss hastily added. Yosuke crumpled in an anime fall, his confidence shattering. "Of course I do!" he snapped.

Something did in fact come crashing out of the trees in less than a second, but nothing that either Weiss or Yosuke could have anticipated! "Blake!?" "Kanji!?" Sure enough, the dark Faunus and rough first year charged out of the woods, looks of utter panic on their faces!

"Huh!? Senpai!?" Kanji said. "Weiss?" Blake asked. The two stopped beside the both of them, looking back into the woods out of fear, even slightly hiding behind their companions! "What the heck are you doing here?" Yosuke asked. "Nevermind," Blake replied, "we've got major problems!" "A man's man is in the middle of smashing some Shadow things, or whatever it was Blake called them, and we've gotta run!" "Man's man?" Weiss and Yosuke asked simultaneously.

Waldstein suddenly came out of the forest, two Ursai on his titanic back, which he proceeded to fling off of him with his long, clawed arms, and crushed them under foot! A small army of Creeps and Boarbatusks followed him out of the forest, which he continued to slash to pieces! All the while, he was laughing maniacally at the battle! "Yes! Yes!" he said happily. "These beasts are unlike any Voids that I've ever combated! Much more fierce! Come at me as tens or thousands, it will not matter! I will take you all on!"

He turned his look to the group of four that were standing close by, causing all of them to shudder in fear. "Children, join me in battle!" he said. "We shall fight with the bleeding hearts of champions! Our bodies will be fine tuned to the greatest of capabilities!"

"I'd rather not," Blake said simply. "Is this man completely insane?" Weiss asked. "Sorry, but I'm good," Yosuke said. "I can respect embracing your manhood," Kanji said, "but there's a point you must draw the line."

More Grimm emerged from the woods, Waldstein gladly jumping into the fray! "Run away!" everyone else yelled, turning and charging back into the forest! Not far away, Linne was still watching from the branches of the trees, beginning to shake her head. "Oh Wald," she said quietly.

* * *

High up in the hills of Forever Fall, Naoto Shirogane had begun overhearing the noises of fierce battle deep in the heart of the forest. The woods had become quite louder in the past few minutes for whatever reason, as if an army going to battle. "Whatever is out there," she said, "they're quite noisy."

Naoto did not recognize where she was. It did not feel like that other world that she and her team had met up in not long ago, almost as if something had dropped her off in yet _another_ new world. Things didn't feel like that Phantom Field or the TV World. Things felt natural here. Not like the simulated environments of either of the other places.

It was something that she had carefully begun to identify over time. The world's environment feeling not like the real world she lived in. Something in the air.

"What is this place?" she thought alloud. "Something wrong Naoto-kun?" a voice asked. Naoto turned and saw Yukiko, and this other girl they had awoken beside by the name of Orie, continuing to progress further.

Naoto had been relieved to have awoken alongside somebody else from her team, but was concerned by the sight of the girl she knew was not from her own world. Orie had felt very awkward about awakening beside Naoto, as back in the Phantom Field she had attacked her and Yukiko's team, however both were understanding as they saw that she hadn't even wanted to fight back then. Together the three resolved to identify their new location, and hopefully reunite with their friends.

Concern had come over her when she realized that the forest they were in appeared to be in the heart of Fall, when back in her world it was still Spring. Had they gone forward or even backward in time somehow? If so, where were they? There were ruins of some kind scattered about, and high in the air just ahead were some kind of railroad tracks. Definitely not a location that Naoto was familiar with on the surface.

"I'm alright Yukiko-senpai," Naoto replied, tipping her hat just above her eyes as she did whenever she was thoughtful. "I'm merely attempting to come up with some theory about our surroundings. Particularly why we're here, and what could have brought us here."

Yukiko nodded. "Right," she said. "I hope we can all get home soon." Orie was not far away, still looking wistfully in the distance. "I hope the same," she said. "I need to get back home soon. I have duties that await me."

"Yes," Naoto said, "you mentioned something about a group you belong to. Something called the 'Licht Kries,' as I recall." "That's correct," Orie replied. "My duty is far too important to be forgotten just like that."

"We all have things that we have to return to," Naoto said. "We'll find our way home soon. We just have to keep looking." Orie nodded, placing a gentle hand over her heart. Naoto smiled lightly, feeling her mannerisms very much the same to the way Yukiko carried herself, with grace and elegance. Nothing quite like how Naoto was.

It wasn't something she ever worried herself over, but now that she'd opened up to her friends more, she noticed just how... _un_ -feminine she was when compared to her friends and teammates like Yukiko, Rise, or even Chie. She'd spent so much of her life living like a boy, she'd never guess she would actually feel jealous of how androgynous she was.

The sounds of battle in the forest became much louder, as if whatever was out there was getting closer, snapping Naoto from her thoughts as she slipped her gun from her uniform trousers! As the sounds continued, she then heard the sounds of people screaming! And to her shock she recognized at least two of the voices!

"Kanji-kun!?" she said. "Yosuke-kun!" Yukiko added. "Your friends?" Orie asked. Without hesitating another second, Orie shot into the forest to search for where the endangered were located, holding her sword steady!

With only a minute or so of running, they all bumped into the group of Weiss, Blake, Yosuke, and Kanji running in the opposite direction! "Huh!? Yukiko-san!? Naoto!?" Yosuke said. "Jeez it's a regular reunion around us, huh? And here I was worried I wouldn't find you all."

"Why're you running?" Orie asked. "Huh? You again?" Kanji asked. "Don't worry," Naoto said, "just answer the question." "You would not believe what is back there," Weiss said, panting heavily, hands on her knees. "Just keep running!"

Naoto, Yukiko, and Orie all looked at the area the others had come from, and quickly understood why they were running, as they witnessed Waldstein body slamming a Boarbatusk, as a Beowolf bit viciously into his neck! They were so stunned they barely noticed that they had begun to get dragged away by the others, with Weiss and Blake grabbing Orie, Yosuke grabbing Yukiko, and Kanji throwing Naoto over his shoulder!

* * *

"Do you both surrender?" "N-never!" the others replied. Much to Yuzu's chagrin, the match between Chie and Yang would actually require her direct interference in order to get anywhere, as the both of them were consumed by their usual fighting styles. They had gotten better with her guidance, but not enough for her liking, and before long she had succeeded in pinning the both of them to the ground simultaneously just to show their limitations!

"D-do _you_ give up?" Yang asked, sweat pouring down her face. "Actually I could keep this up all day," Yuzu replied, "can you?" She emphasized by tightening her grip on Chie! "W-what did I do?" the Persona user asked pitifully.

Yuzu had hooked her arms around Yang's, putting them back to back, and keeping Yang from using her punches. Yang was now sitting on the ground as Yuzu leaned against her, and was tightly pulling Yang's shoulders back, and gripping onto her wrists! Chie wasn't fairing much better, as she was laying flat on her back on the ground, her legs twisted in a vicious pretzel with Yuzuriha's, and unable to budge them an inch, as she gripped the ground so much she had dug little trenches with her nails, and was biting on her lip so hard to distract from the pain she threatened to draw blood!

Yuzu had to admit, these two _were_ quite the sparring partners. Neither one of them would willingly concede or admit defeat, and would struggle til' the bitter end. And she would admit, despite preferring a specific way of fighting, they were quite skilled at it and she did take longer to pin them than she had anticipated. However, despite whatever training or powers they claimed to have, not only was Yuzuriha an In-Birth that was physically stronger than an average human, but also a skilled samurai that could hold her own even without a weapon, which she had since left stabbed in the ground several feet away.

"So what do you both say?" Yuzuriha asked. "You can still admit defeat now." "I...I..." Chie said slowly. She was seeming to be considering her options very well. She had no Aura or Semblance like Yang, and thusly her body was much less protected, and she felt all the pain she was forced to endure in this situation. One could see on the surface that she was suffering. Her face was red hot, she was sweating buckets, her legs were in knots, and she had even unzipped her jacket and taken off a few buttons on the dress shirt she wore beneath to expose her hot midriff.

"Okay, I give!" she said. "Just let me do something other than this!" "I might," Yuzu said, "if you call me 'sensei.' Haven't heard anybody call me that in awhile. It'd be nice." "The hell!? Don't blackmail me!" Chie said. Yuzu twisted her legs even more, and the suffering the poor girl was going through was multiplied by five! "Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow! Ah, why is this happening!? I never signed on for anything like this today!"

"I did!" Yang said. "I'm training to become a Huntress, so I'm gonna have to face way worse than this! So you can-!" Yuzuriha pulled tighter on Yang's shoulders, threatening to pop them out of their sockets! "Agh! Crap!"

Yuzuriha's sharp senses suddenly picked up that somebody was approaching. She lessened her grip just a hair, until she saw the group of other Huntresses-in-training and Persona users exit the woods and nearly trip right over the tangled mass of warrior women! Faces became red as the group collectively became very flustered!

"Yang!? W-what the hell are you doing!?" Weiss yelled. "Oh man," Blake said, not making eye contact. "I mean many have assumed, but we never thought-" "Assumed what you freaking cat?" Yang asked, her eyes turning red in anger.

"Oh man!" Yosuke said, his nose suddenly feeling like it could overflow any minute with blood! "I'm in heaven! And me without a camera!" "Y-Yosuke!" Chie sputtered, trying in vain to free herself! "P-please - no - it's not what it looks like!"

"How you feeling Kanji?" Yosuke asked, turning to the only other male in the group. "Like a man," Kanji replied, his own nose already bleeding. "Kanji-kun!" Yukiko said, smacking Kanji across the face! Naoto and Orie meanwhile were unable to even come up with any sentences.

After a moment, there was a miffed Yang, a very, very embarrassed Chie, and a relaxed Yuzuriha standing before the others. "Do we want to know what was going on here?" Naoto asked, having finally recovere. "Nothing!" Chie said, buttoning her shirt. "We were just sparring!" "Sparring?" Yosuke asked. "You call _that_ sparring?" "I do," Yuzuriha shrugged.

"And who are you?" Yosuke asked. "Yuzuriha, at your service," she replied. "Nice to meet you," Naoto said with a tip of the hat.

"So what were all of you running from?" Yang asked. "If Grimm were giving you that much trouble, we have definitely got to get the both of you in shape." "Not Grimm," Weiss and Blake replied. "At least, not alone."

"Look," Blake said, "what's important is we've gotten a distance between ourselves and... what we were running from, so perhaps we should cover our situation. It seems like we have a lot to talk about."

* * *

"So you're telling me you've been somewhere like this before?" Hyde asked. "That's right," Yu said.

After Ruby being freed from the crushing weight of the both of them slamming on top of her from what felt like orbit, Yu began to describe how he'd been somewhere like this before. Back when he first arrived in Inaba and his life changed forever he had a dream very much like this. Now Hyde was laying on his side, not even bothering to stand and was merely reclined casually, whilst Ruby was sitting cross-legged on the ground, as the both of them listened to his story, as he paced around back and forth in front of him.

"So what do you think we should do?" Ruby asked. "I honestly have no clue," Yu replied. "Last time this happened it was just a dream. Or something along those same lines. The only thing I can think of is that this is somehow linked with the TV World from my home. But that makes no real sense."

"So, we're screwed is what you're saying," Hyde said bluntly. He got to his feet and stretched his arms over his head. "Alright, well do you have any suggestions?" "I don't know," Yu replied. "I know that this seems like what happened before, but I can't even begin to fathom what we can do if it is what I'm thinking it is."

Ruby got to her feet as well and began tapping her foot thoughtfully. She knew that somebody had to step up and take control if they were gonna get out of here, potentially get out alive if the risk factor is as high as this environment suggested. And at the moment, she knew that it might have to be her.

Hyde was appearing to be too cranky and stubborn to think coherently. Yu on the other hand was showing some heavy level of anxiety and stress. Ruby was the only one that would be able to think positive in this scenario and find a way to get them out safely.

"Okay guys," she said, "we need to find a way out. I think that the only thing we can do right now is go exploring and see if we can figure out what's happening. Because it's clear as day that nobody here really knows what is happening."

"I'm game," Hyde said. "Hold on," Yu said, "are you sure that's safe?" "Probably not," Hyde said. "But I get what she's saying when she says we have no other option."

Yu looked at Ruby, who was holding the biggest smile on her face. He knew that if what his gut was telling him was true, then there would be a seriously high risk that the three of them could be psychologically destroyed or even killed. But he also knew that they wouldn't be any safer just waiting in the fog for something to come to them. They had to go out there into the unknown, and they would have to do so together.

"Okay," he said. "Since you seem to be positive, then you should take point." "Me?" Ruby asked. "Sure," Hyde said. "You seemed pretty solid when we last fought together. So you can take the lead."

Ruby bit her lip. Leading her own team was fine since she'd gotten to know them and trust them, and knew how to lead them into situations like fighting Torchwick in that mech suit, or that dystopian city full of Grimm. She didn't know anything about these two. She had fought with Hyde briefly and had a basic understanding on his powers, but she also didn't know Yu at all or what he could do.

Still, like she said, she had no choice. The both of them were seeing her as her rock now, and she had technically done that on purpose. So, with little other choice, she pulled on her hood and readied Crescent Rose. With a collective nod, they all began to walk into the fog.

As they did, Hyde had to take a moment to breathe. His mind was still recovering from that situation before, about all of his memories being scrambled. But he just had to keep telling himself it was over. Because it was. Right?

* * *

"So you're telling me," Naoto said, "that it was because of you that we ended up here?" Weiss, Blake, and Yang all felt the powerful accusatory gazes of everyone else. The group of individuals had all explained what had happened to themselves back in the Phantom Field, and suffice to say, things were not going to go well for them once they all found out that it was most likely Team RWBY's fault for getting everyone else trapped in Remnant.

"Naoto-kun!" Chie said. "Let's not go that far! From what they said, they obviously didn't mean to get us stuck here!" "I'm just saying," Naoto said.

"Look," Yang said, not appreciating Naoto's attitude, "how about we not worry about placing blame and actually try getting you guys back where you belong? Huh?" "Yang-chan's right," Yukiko said. "Acting hostile isn't going to do any good."

Naoto nodded. "You're right, of course," she said. "I'm... I'm sorry." "Don't worry," Blake said. "We understand, believe us." "Let's get back to our school," Weiss said. "There's gotta be something we can do. And the only thing we can really do at the moment is talk with our headmaster, Professor Ozpin."

"You sure your headmaster is gonna have a clue as what to do?" Kanji asked. "Either way," Yang said, "he'll have to find out eventually." "Let's do it," Yosuke said. "If they say it's our only option, then there isn't much we can do."

The group nodded to one another and prepared to set off for Beacon Academy. As they did, Yuzuriha was lounging casually nearby in the branch of a tree. "Hey Yuzu-chan, you coming?" Chie asked. "Eh, you go on without me," Yuzu said, waving her off. "I'm gonna catch up on some sleep."

"Okay," Chie said. "Just... don't get lost, okay?" "Sure thing," Yuzu said. "And come find me when you want another sparring match. I may teach you something yet." Chie gulped in fear at the memory of the pain her legs had gone under. It honestly was a miracle she was even able to walk at all.

The others left, and Yuzuriha was able to relax on the branch of the tree for some time. It was astonishing how calmly she was taking all of this. She seemed none too concerned over the fact that she was in another world entirely. But she wasn't concerned, because a.) it was an adventure, and b.) she knew that somewhere, out there, Hyde was working hard to get things back to normal. It was impossible for him to not to.

But nobody, not Yuzu and not even Linne could know the truth of where Hyde was, and what he was going through at the moment.

* * *

Hazama's plan had not exactly gone as he would have preferred. By holding onto the Blue Keystone when the Phantom Field had gone down, he had succeeded in keeping himself from being returned to his home dimension. And to top it off, he was even able to make sure all of his friends from back home were sent back.

For you see, the Blue Keystone, as well as all of the other Keystones, all had their own supply of energy from the heart of System XX itself, giving them minor dimensional altering abilities. And because Ragna had been in possession of the blue one, it had picked up "Battle Data" from Ragna and his home world. It was really simple to send everyone native to Ragna and Hazama's world back where they belong. Leaving him alone to abuse the properties of System XX.

But to his annoyance somebody else had had the same idea. And to make matters worse, they all possessed abilities far beyond what he would've thought possible. Even at all his might, he was only able to scratch the surface.

Now he was left laying flat on the ground, the Blue Keystone still clutched in his hand. The individual that had fought him was standing over him in victory. _**"Do you surrender, Hazama?"**_ they asked. **_"Or will I be forced to kill you?"_**

Hazama released a hoarse laugh, as he looked into the eyes of his enemy. "Well," he said, "toying with reality would've been quite the means to spread some chaos. But in the end, it's better to get up close and personal, wouldn't you think?"

The figure did not reply, as they took the Blue Keystone from Hazama's hand, and placed it back into System XX.

 **Power: 100%**

 **Keystones Accounted: 3/4 - Battle Data Below Desired Functioning Range.**

 **Warning: Pure Body Sustained Critical Damage. Form Integrity - 78%**

 **Dimensional Viewing: Active.**

 **Dimensional Breach: Active.**

The figure grinned evilly. Turned out that only with three out of the four Keystones available, System XX was still capable of accessing other dimensions. However, with a flick of the wrist and some bending energies they discovered that the full abilities of System XX were not quite available yet. True they could open portals to other dimensions, but the reach was short, and they could not truly toy with the laws of reality just yet. Nothing quite so far as to conquering another universe. They would need the fourth and final Keystone in order to do so.

However, it wouldn't be that simple. The Red Keystone was still pursuing its last function whilst under System XX's control. Hazama most likely knew this when he gave it back to Ruby, knowing full well she wouldn't have any idea how to control it. The conflicting instructions would lead to an utter stalemate and potential system crash if they tried to take the Red Keystone directly with System XX. They would have to figure out another approach.

"So tell me," Hazama said. The figure halted their progress. _**"Oh that's right,"**_ the figure said. _**"I forgot you were still here."**_

"You know," Hazama said, "you're a very rude individual." _**"Forgive me,"**_ the figure said. _**"I merely got distracted."**_ "No hard feelings," Hazama said, delivering his grim smile.

"But as I was saying, are you simply going to kill me or just keep me prisoner? Because let me tell you, I get bored very easily." The figure merely laughed.

 _ **"I'll send you back to your universe. I have no interest in you or your home world. At least not yet. I might reach out there eventually, depending on how things go here."**_

"And, pray tell," Hazama said, "what do you intend to do? You see, I wanted to spread chaos back home. But you? You seem to be one of integrity, so what exactly did you have in mind?"

The figure looked back at Hazama, their eyes not spelling exactly what lay beneath. **_"I merely wanted to bring a challenge to the people,"_** they said. _**"You can appreciate the idea of not living with monotony, right Hazama? From what I gather you enjoy standing against the status quo quite a bit. So you can appreciate me going around and ensuring that no universe is... bored anymore."**_

The figure shot a wave of blue energy at Hazama from System XX, sending him back to his home universe! With Hazama gone, this once again left this single individual as the only person remaining in the Phantom Field. They sat on their makeshift throne, and held out their hand, summoning a new object to them. With a delicious smile on their face, they looked at the device that would lead to their victory.

In their hand, was a Pink Keystone.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: And the first foreshadowing to the fifth franchise of Blazblue: Cross Tag Battle is here! Still no idea what the heck it is yet, so it's still gonna be awhile until we officially see it in this story.  
**_

 _ **Anyways, we get some interactions from the other characters now! So, I put Weiss with Yosuke because I thought their interactions would be just adorable. I put Blake with Kanji because I thought they would respect each other, and you can expect more interactions between the both of them later which I'll explain more in full when the time comes. I didn't exactly have a particular reason for having Naoto with Orie and Yukiko, it's just how it ended up. And I couldn't not put Yang, Chie, and Yuzuriha together like this, and I had a lot of fun writing their "sparring"! We'll get Linne interact with the others soon too, but I felt that in a situation like this she'd prefer to watch from the shadows. And come on, we all know that Waldstein would attack every Grimm he came across. Overall, I think that things went well in this one. Like I mentioned in the last chapter, OOC behavior is something I want to dodge as much as I can in order to provide a pleasant read.  
**_

 _ **Once again, this chapter is mainly just for laying the groundwork for the rest of the story, and I aim to make Chapter Three the last chapter like this so we can get some more adventures or simply times spent between characters in more casual moments. Also, I hope that I'm not confusing anybody with the way the story is flowing, as I feel I am definitely going a little heavy on the mystery, which mostly just boils down to me having WAY too much to say per chapter instead of just getting to the point already.**_

 _ **But as I said before, everything will be explained by the next chapter so we can get right to the chase. And who's the mysterious puppet master behind where Ruby, Yu, and Hyde ended up? And who's in control of System XX? Find out next time.**_

 _ **Until then, I hope you have a wonderful evening, and take care!**_


	3. Chapter 3: The Fog of Lies

_**A New Lease on Life.**_

Quick Note: So this'll be the last note at the start of a chapter for awhile. I'm going to be removing the "opening," I'd had included in the prior two chapters. I honestly didn't account for how it could break immersion, and I hope as to not make that same mistake in the future. I've seen some stories in the past that utilize music choices at different points and I thought to do the same knowing the beautiful music that these three franchises have, but honestly in a story like this, not breaking immersion with readers is key. If it didn't bother you, that's great, but in hindsight it was a silly inclusion that's better left behind. It honestly didn't belong in a story like this, and I feel it's best left gone. Once again, I say thank you for the support, suggestions, and recommendations you've given me, and I hope to continue hearing more of what you'd like to see happen in the future.

* * *

 _ **Chapter Three: The Fog of Lies.**_

The shining structures of Beacon Academy was among the greatest highlights for the Kingdom of Vale, one of the four capital kingdoms in the world of Remnant. Designed as the best of the Huntsmen academies in Vale, it was responsible for training the next generation of world guardians to go out into the world so they can combat the Creatures of Grimm. A literal beacon of hope, shining against the coastline, towering high, its brilliance almost reflecting the light of the sun.

"You cannot be serious," Yosuke said. "THIS is your school?!" Weiss proceeded to pinch his ear in response to his outburst! "Don't scream you dolt," she said bitterly. "We're all sitting right next to you!"

Yang couldn't help but giggle at the sight of the two of them. They had been practically inseparable since Team RWBY and the Investigation Team had all met back up in the heart of the woods. The lot of them had been forced to walk for a long while until they had proper signal in their scrolls that allowed them to contact the school for pickup.

Thankfully an airbus was capable of taking them the rest of the way to Beacon. They had been wandering for what must have been hours. Still, it was behind them now, and the Investigation Team was too busy being distracted by the design of the vehicle to bother complaining.

"This... this is ludicrous," Naoto said, her eyes tracing around the interior as she kept herself from rising from her seat and fiddling with everything she could find. "Such a vehicle shouldn't exist where we come from. What is powering it? How does it fly?"

"How primitive is your world?" Blake asked bluntly. "It's not so much that we're primitive!" Chie said. "It's the fact that you guys live in some crazy Star Wars world or some crap like that!" "We don't know what that is," Yang said plainly.

"It's not just them," Orie said. "Such technology doesn't exist where I'm from either. Such a craft is... hard to believe." Weiss couldn't help but hum thoughtfully.

The group had explained bits and pieces of their own worlds, but had failed to bring up things like culture or technology to each other. They had mostly explained about their abilities or what creatures they fought like Shadows, Grimm, or Voids. They didn't fully understand exactly how far off their worlds really were to each other and how hard it may be for those among them not native to Remnant to adapt to a new environment entirely.

They soon saw Beacon Academy closing in, which is what resulted in Yosuke's previous outburst. "Don't tell me," Yang said, "you don't even have anything like Beacon where you guys are from either?" "Not entirely," Yukiko replied. "We have buildings that are similar, but they aren't as commonplace as being something like a school."

"And you say you come here to learn how to fight monsters?" Kanji asked. "Of course," Blake replied. "Man I wish we had something like that back home," Yosuke said. "Would've made fighting the Shadows a lot easier."

"Clearly we still have a lot to explain to each other," Naoto said. "But I suggest we focus on finding our missing leaders before we dive into that." "Good idea," Orie said. "I'm still worried about what might have happened to Kido too."

"We'll find all our friends," Yang said. "We just have to stay positive." "That is what Ruby would do," Blake said thoughtfully.

The three-fourths of Team RWBY didn't say it, but they were truly fearful for what had become of their leader. The fact that the rest of them, as well as most of the others from the Phantom Field awoke so close to each other, left them somewhat confident she couldn't be too far away. But the fact that she wasn't seen anywhere close to the others left them all somewhat fearful at the same time. As a whole, this entire situation left them feeling anxious.

Concern was felt by all three of them for their missing leader. Worry about seeing her again, with her neverending confidence, surprisingly wise words, and adorable personality. All three of them loved her collectively, and wanted her back.

Similar feelings were had for the members of the Investigation Team for their own leader. All of them needed their leader's levelheadedness, and empathy in times of crises to return so they could function properly in this unfamiliar environment. Without him, they felt lost. None of them knew what they could do having been estranged from their home with no evident way back.

Orie meanwhile could feel nothing but guilt over what has happened between herself and Hyde. She had lied to him, something she knew arriving in Kanzakai she would have to do with everyone, but it didn't leave her feeling any less uneasy. He had trusted her, and they had become friends, and all for the sake of her mission she told him nothing but lies, including her own last name. The two met and fought during the Hollow Night, and she couldn't tell him a word of reason. She just hoped that by the time she saw him again she'd get a chance to apologize and explain herself.

Before long, the group touched down in Beacon Academy and began trekking through the campus. The faces of the Investigation Team plus Orie were still gobsmacked as they moved along, whilst Team RWBY tried to assess how exactly they break the news to Ozpin that they broke seemingly everything in reality.

"So this is your campus?" Chie asked, excitement in her tone. "Oh it looks so cool!" "Quite," Orie said. "It honestly reminds me of my time with the Licht Kries, it's so gorgeous!" "Guys, cool it," Yang said. "We get it. It's pretty. But we're trying to make a plan here... Am I really the one who just said that?" "Yes," Blake said.

"Well what's there to plan?" Yosuke asked, holding his hands behind his head. "You said that we were going to talk to your headmaster, and then we'd focus on looking for my partner and your leader and Mr. Hyde." "It's obviously not that simple!" Weiss said, getting in his face. "We have to organize more than that! Like, tell me, do you honestly think that our headmaster will believe the majority of what we have to tell him! Especially when we encountered things like robots, devil-men, human lobsters, cyborgs, and any manner of bizarre creature in that other world!" "Well when you put it that way it just sounds silly," Yosuke shrugged.

The rest of the group could only sigh as both Weiss and Yosuke continued to butt heads. This went on for several seconds, before Blake's keen hearing picked up on the sound of what distinctly resembled an explosion. Her cat ears flicked beneath her bow as she looked in the direction the sound originated to see a pink trail of smoke rapidly approaching!

"Incoming," she said simply, ducking to the side! Yang was the first to react, having been standing next to her, looking in the direction of the smoke and hastily ducking away herself! And slowly but surely, Chie, Yukiko, Kanji, and the others dodged as well, the only ones not reacting being Yosuke and Weiss, who both got steamrolled by the pink explosion!

The two flipped end over end, with Yosuke landing flat on his face with his butt sticking in the air, and Weiss landing on her back, staring up at the sky! "Holy crap! What was that?!" Chie said. "Nora," Blake and Yand said.

Sure enough, the bouncy (and more than likely psychotic) redhead of Team JNPR emerged from the smoke, cheering happily! "Man I knew that new grenade was gonna pack a punch," she said, "but wow! I think I landed in Mistral or something!"

She flipped back on her feet and looked at the group of individuals staring at her. "Hey. How did you guys get here?" she asked. "You're not in Mistral you lunatic," Blake said, "you just tackled Weiss and Yosuke."

She looked over, and saw Weiss standing up and dusting off her skirt, whilst Yosuke stumbled back to his feet, nursing his poor face. "What the hell was that!?" he asked. "You could have killed us!" Nora merely scoffed. "No you wouldn't have," she said. "Your Aura would have saved you!" "I don't even know what that is!" Yosuke said.

The rest of Team JNPR rushed over, all of them looking nervous! "Sorry!" they all said. "We're very, very sorry!" Pyrrha said. "Nora was testing a new grenade!" Jaune said. "And we tried to stop her before she hurt somebody!" "Suffice to say," Ren added, "it didn't work."

"It's alright guys," Yang shrugged. "We've got better things to worry about right now." "But just be aware," Weiss said, "all four of you will suffer my wrath once we're finished." Team JNPR hung their heads in shame as Weiss dragged Yosuke and Yang away.

"So who was that?" Yosuke asked. "Team JNPR," Blake replied. "All four of them are a little bit... eccentric, but they mean well." "While I'm fairly certain we'd get award for most disorganized team," Weiss said. "But they certainly get the award for funniest," Yang added.

Team RWBY continued leading the way through Beacon's campus, making their way towards a particular wing of buildings. "So where are we going again?" Kanji asked. "We're gonna stop by our dorm first," Yang said. "We just wanna check there before we talk to our headmaster."

"Most of us were found in a relatively close space," Blake said. "But we are still missing Ruby, as well as you all vouching for your own friends being unaccounted for. We at least want to check the one place that she could be before we talk to him." "And if we don't find her," Naoto said, "or anyone there?" "Then we panic," Weiss replied.

Before long, the group arrived at the dorm room of Team RWBY. And on the other side of the door, the entire crowd got the shock of their lives! Laying on the floor were the unmoving forms of Ruby, Hyde, and Yu. The panic that gripped their hearts was near instantaneous!

"Ruby!" Yang, Weiss, and Blake all yelled! "Narukami!" The Investigation Team yelled. "Kido!" Orie yelled. The whole of them knelt down besides the bodies of their respective teammates or friends!

"Ruby! Ruby, wake up!" Yang said nervously, shaking her gently by the shoulders. Ruby's only response was to moan in what hopefully wasn't pain!

"Narukami-kun," Yukiko said gently. "It's alright now. You can wake up! We're right here!" "Senpai! Hey!" Kanji practically yelled, getting right in his face and gripping him by the collar of his shirt! "Kanji, that won't help. Let him go," Naoto said, gently touching his arms. "Narukami..." Chie said quietly. "I swear to God if you don't get up I'm gonna kick you to next week! Wake up!"

Too many questions were buzzing around the heads of everyone present. Too many unaccounted for variables that had caused their fear and anxiety to boil over. The sights of the people that they cared about gathered up in one place, and their unresponsive states was too much for many of them to bear.

Suddenly, a yellow blur shot over from the doorway! As Orie was kneeling down next to Hyde, she was shoved aside as Linne emerged at last and grabbed Hyde by the shoulders! "Hyde? Hyde?" she said nervously.

"Come on Ruby," Weiss said, "please get up. I'll do anything if you do you dolt! I'll let you call me Ice Queen, no argument! I'll let you put on BFF t-shirts with me! Just whatever it'll take to get you up!" "...you promise?" "Of course I promise!" Weiss said. "Just please wake - up?"

Weiss stopped in surprise for a moment, before cautiously looking up and seeing Ruby's iconic silver eyes had opened and were looking at her with an expectant gaze. The two merely met eyes for a moment, neither saying a word. Then, Weiss grabbed Ruby by her cape and kneed her right in the gut shouting - "You absolute DOLT!"

Ruby had the wind knocked out from her and collapsed to her knees from that brutal assault! "OH! I cannot believe you!" Weiss said, gripping her hair! "Of all the irresponsible, heart attack inducing, RUDE things you could have done, this takes the entire cake! No! Hold it! Not even the cake! It takes the buffet! God! I am so embarrassed to have you for a leader! WHY?!"

Weiss stomped in an angered circle as Ruby shakily got to her own feet, a pained smile on her face as she looked at her partner. "Good to see you again too Weiss," she said. Yang and Blake hugged her from behind, bringing an honest smile to Ruby's face.

Yu was the next one to recover, being pulled to his feet by his own teammates. "You okay partner?" Yosuke asked. "Yeah," Yu said. "Just take it easy senpai," Kanji said. "I will," Yu replied.

"We're very happy you're alright senpai," Naoto said. "You had us worried there," Yukiko added, waving her hand in front of her face. Yu looked among the girls, and noticed Chie was looking at him with misty eyes. "You jerk!" she yelled, tackling him with a hug. "Why do you keep doing that!? Stop scaring the crap out of me like this! Ugh! I hate you sometimes!"

"Man. She and the Ice Queen have a bit in common," Yosuke said. The others in the Investigation Team nodded. "Hey!" Weiss said. Yu merely patted Chie's head, smiling down at her.

Back with Hyde, Linne's face was turning more and more from concern to anger as she looked over her partner! "Hyde - WAKE UP!" she shouted, stomping right where the sun don't shine! Hyde yelled in agony as he shot up to his knees in an instant motion! "Why...?" he asked pitifully. "Why would you ever do that?" "Well it woke you up didn't it?" Linne said. Orie could only pat Hyde on the shoulder as the Unknown Actor whimpered in pain and frustration.

"Now would somebody mind telling me how in the world the three of you got in this room?" Linne asked. "None of you even exist in the same world. Why would you of all people be dropped here?"

Everyone else in the room could only stare at Linne in wonder and confusion. "And you are?" Yang asked. "She's with me," Hyde said, stumbling to his feet as he was still nursing an injury unimaginable for men around. "She's my... partner you could say."

"Where the heck did she come from?" Yosuke asked. "I was spying on you," Linne said simply. "You were what?" Weiss asked angrily. "I didn't really know any of you," Linne said, "aside from those I had less than favorable encounters with in that Phantom Field," she emphasized this point by looking at Naoto and the others, recalling the fight they'd had back in the other world.

"Getting the facts straight, we were all brought here for seemingly no reason. Those of us who have discussed have come to the possibility that we were all brought here because of the fact that 'Team RWBY' here destroyed System XX rather than sealing it. Makes enough sense, doesn't it?" Everyone nodded in response. "But... what about these three?" Linne asked.

"Huh?" Yukiko asked, tilting her head. "I think I understand what she's getting at," Naoto said. "Everyone else was dropped in a relatively close space to one another. Yet our leader, Ruby, and Hyde were all placed here? But why?"

"Uh..." Ruby said, raising her hand awkwardly, "I think we have something that could help with that."

For the next few minutes or so, the three of them recounted how they awoke in a dreamlike state in a place that resembled Beacon Academy. However, their memories were altered, at least for Yu and Hyde. The way that place was coated in a thick fog, and how they met copies of one another, it was all very nerve wracking.

"Woah," Chie said, "that sounds freaky." "Dude," Yosuke said, "a place filled with fog? You don't think..." "I do," Narukami replied.

Truth be told he'd had that suspicion from the start. He just didn't want to acknowledge it. He didn't want to think that the same threat that had haunted him, watching from the sidelines and pulling on the strings of every action during his initial adventure in Inaba.

If that thing had somehow came back than he wasn't sure he'd be able to survive a second round. He didn't know what might become of this world during the struggle. But more than that, he was confused about why they were playing this game this time around? What did they have to gain in altering the memories of himself and Hyde?

"Think what?" Blake asked. "I'll tell you later," Yu replied. "Why?" Ruby asked. "Because we could die," Yu said plainly. "Say what!?" Hyde said. "Don't just drop a bombshell on us like that so calmly!" "Sorry. He does that," Yosuke said.

"Moving on past that," Blake said, a sweatdrop on her brow, "we should wrap this up and talk to our headmaster. It's a relief that we have everyone reunited, so we can instead focus on what to do next with all of you."

It was unanimous, everyone agreeing that the only thing they could do was report to the highest authority they could find. Everyone left the dorm room of Team RWBY, and set off for Professor Ozpin's office. As they left, Hyde was rubbing his head. He felt like the ordeal that had happened in that other world wasn't finished yet.

 _Still,_ he thought, _at least it's over. I know who I am and where I come from. There's nothing to argue there._

* * *

Professor Ozpin was the wise headmaster of Beacon Academy, leading the school and teaching the next generation of Huntsman and Huntress to protect their land from the Creatures of Grimm. It was a title that he held with pride, not just for the sake of his students, but for his kingdom too. As the headmaster for his academy, the greatest and largest in the Kingdom of Vale, he had a relationship with those in the council that lead Vale. He had authority to protect and guide Vale just as much as those on the council.

True they didn't always agree with his decisions. He never enforced his own opinion before, in fact he was the first to admit he was a very flawed individual that often lead himself to destruction. But he always did what he felt was right for himself, and for the future.

This morning, he had been sitting at his desk watching the changing seasons outside his clocktower "window," listening to the repeated clicking of the clockwork in his office, sipping on his perpetual cup of coffee. Spring was leaving and Autumn would soon come. The chill in the air was like a subtle messenger of the grim things to come, he could feel it.

A ding in the elevator snapped him from his thoughts, as he turned to admit the newcomers entrance. The next moment, a total of thirteen teenagers came tumbling out of the door and falling into an awkward pile of limbs and hair on the ground! Teams RWBY had come to his office, accompanied by nearly a dozen newcomers that he didn't even recognize.

Linne shoved herself free from the ground of people, gasping for breath. "Hyde!" she said. "I told you that shoving all of us in that elevator was a terrible idea! It was much to small for us all to get in there!" "Me?" Hyde said. "Yosuke was the first one to suggest we go in the elevator together! I was just agreeing! Less trips back and forth, you know!" "Well it worked didn't it?" Yosuke said. "We all got up here at once!" "And we nearly collapsed our lungs in the process!" Weiss said.

"Can it!" Blake said. She gestured to a very baffled looking Professor Ozpin, who was still at his desk not saying a word. However, after a moment, a smile formed on his face.

If there were a particular bunch of students he was always interested in, it was Team JNPR, and Team RWBY especially. These eight students always seemed to find themselves in the pit of circumstances that would have lasting affects on the future of the Kingdom of Vale. And in certain cases, the other kingdoms of the world too. Even if they didn't really know it yet.

"My students," he said, "what brings you here? And whom might these other children be? Some new friends?" "Children?" Kanji asked, sounding offended. "Yes. You could say that," Blake said.

"Well, what brings them all here?" Ozpin asked. "Do they want to become students?" "Well," Ruby said, rubbing the back of her neck, "that's what we're gonna leave up to you."

For the next several minutes, for what should hopefully be the last time in a long while, the different teenagers that had been a part of the Phantom Field event discussed their homeworlds, and what lead to them being taken to the Phantom Field and put into the "Keystone Scramble Tournament." As the group explained themselves, Professor Ozpin was stonefaced the entire time. He did not let on in the slightest exactly what he was thinking, merely choosing to remain calm the entire while.

"And that's when we just... woke up in our dorm," Ruby said. "I don't know exactly what happened back there. It couldn't have just been a dream, but if it was, how were we having the same dream?" "Yes..." Ozpin said. "Very confusing."

"So what do you say Professor Ozpin?" Weiss asked. "Do you believe us?" "I do," Ozpin said simply. His response happened so fast barely anybody could comprehend what they had just heard. They stood still as Ozpin took a sip from his coffee mug.

"Wait, run that by us again?" Chie asked. "You believe us?" "Correct," Ozpin said. "I've actually been well aware of the possibility of alternate universes for some time. Something like this you could say I was half-anticipating to happen eventually."

"Well that's great," Yosuke said, "but what do we do now? I mean, we're kind of stuck here." "I can handle that," Ozpin said. "I don't doubt that all of you will find your way home one day. Until that time however, I feel that it's best that you all stay here."

"Seriously?" Kanji asked. "You're just gonna have us in your school?" "That's correct," Ozpin said. "Be aware you won't be receiving any special treatment aside from assistance in comprehending 'foreign' terminology. Aside from that, you will be like any other students, and will be required to attend classes and complete all work your teachers provide. Is that a problem?"

A slew of 'noes' came out from the group. Linne meanwhile was hugging her arms close. Something about this was not exactly agreeing with her.

"Good to hear," Ozpin said. "If that'll be all, perhaps Team RWBY and their friends Team JNPR could give you a tour around the school and help you understand a bit of what to expect in the future, whilst I work on your enrollment forms." "Perhaps that would be for the best," Naoto nodded. "None of us really have anywhere else to go."

The group prepared to leave, but Yu remained where he was. "Narukami? You coming?" Yosuke asked. "Forgive me," he said, "but there's something else I should discuss with Professor Ozpin. Something that I should discuss alone."

"Huh?" Ruby asked. "You don't want us here?" "Yeah, even us dude?" Yosuke asked. "Sorry," Yu said, "but this is something that is only for us." "Understood," Ozpin said. "Everyone, if you'd please give Mr. Narukami and I some privacy?"

Reluctantly, Team RWBY, the Investigation Team, Hyde, Orie, and Linne all left the office. "So what do you wish to talk to me about?" Ozpin asked. "Sorry Professor," Yu said, "but I wasn't totally honest earlier. Truth be told I have an idea of exactly why Ruby, Hyde and myself were all experiencing what seems to be the same dream. And it has to do with a creature called Izanami."

* * *

Ruby was tapping her foot in frustration outside the office. Soon that tapping became a bouncing on the bottom of her leg. Then it grew from that into a stomping motion. All of this came to a grinding halt when Weiss smacked her on the back of the head!

"Can, you, not?" she said angrily. "Come on Weiss!" Ruby said. "Tell me you don't want to be in there too!" "Just be happy that Ozpin believes us," Weiss said. "Everything that happens next is up to him."

Ruby put on a serious pout. That wasn't good enough for her. She wanted to be in there and listening to the situation going on. She wanted to know what was happening with one of the people that she felt responsible for.

"We need to find a way up there," she said certainly. "What?" Weiss asked. "Isn't that an invasion of privacy?" "You can't tell me you're not curious!" Ruby said. "Well what do you suggest we do?" Weiss asked. "There's no way that we can just sneak back in there. The elevator is the only way into his office."

Ruby eyed the building in front of her, tapping her foot once more as she pondered. "You start stomping that leg again," Weiss said, "and I'll hit you harder." Ruby came to a screeching halt, but suddenly got her idea!

"Okay!" she said. "Here's what we do!"

* * *

Not long later, Team RWBY and the Investigation Team were attempting the most ludicrous idea they would ever have! They had somehow managed to get up to Ozpin's office, from the outside, and had made a human ladder atop one of Weiss's glyphs in order to eavesdrop on what they were saying inside! Yang was on the bottom of the tower, standing on the glyph, with Kanji on her shoulders, then Hyde, Chie, Yosuke, Blake, Weiss, and finally Ruby at the very top top listening in just beneath the clockface window.

"Can you hear what they're saying!?" Yang asked Ruby. "Shh! I can't hear if you're yelling! Plus we don't want them to hear us!" Ruby replied. "Are you sure we should be doing this?" Chie asked, even her strength waning with from having four weapon carrying so many people on her shoulders, with sweat visible on her forehead. "I think what we should be asking," Yosuke replied, "is why nobody else is helping us! We've got like, four more people that could be helping! And yet we're the ones stuck up here!"

"Forgive me senpai," Naoto said from her vantage point on the ground standing alongside Yukiko, Orie, and Linne. "But somebody's gotta watch from down here to catch you in case you risk falling off that glyph." "That's a load of bull and you know it," Yosuke said.

"Shouldn't we have just asked to stay inside?" Blake asked. "Nah. This is easier," Ruby replied. "Easier?" Kanji said quietly. "Just hurry up and find out what's happening before my spine telescopes!" Hyde said. "If you all don't shut up I'll lose my concentration on that glyph, and than we'll be in serious trouble!" Weiss said behind grinding teeth.

Ruby listened in on what Ozpin and Yu were discussing. Meanwhile, down below, Linne tapped Orie on the arm. "Listen Licht Kries," she said, "you have no reason to trust me, and I surely have no reason to trust you, but there is something that I have to talk to you about." Orie looked skeptical.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I am," Linne replied. Orie would've said to wait until Hyde got back, but saw something in Linne's eyes. Linne was very unhappy, but not angry. More like sad. Orie nodded a yes, and the two left the rest of the crowd.

"So you say this, Izanami is some kind of god?" Ozpin asked Narukami inside his office. "Something like that," Yu replied. "She claims to have the best interest for humanity, and acted out of their own desire, but was attempting to shroud our world in fog in response. This fog would have turned all the people in our world into Shadows, and left us as merely echos of what we were." "Woah," Ruby said quietly.

"She's the one that gave me my... uh, powers. She sat on the sidelines and watched, believing herself to be acting in mankind's true desire as people killed or tortured each other with this power." "I see," Ozpin said. "So what became of this creature?" "We destroyed her," Yu replied. "At least, we thought we did." "Thought?" Ruby asked.

"Izanami acted by playing on the mind and perception. She could create dreams or illusions, even fake worlds. That's what I felt when Ruby, Hyde, and I were in that dream world. I think she was the one manipulating our minds."

"If this is Izanami," Ozpin said, "what do you think should be done?" "I don't know," Yu said honestly. All was quiet in the office for a moment.

"She's incredibly powerful," he said finally. "I don't know if we'll be so lucky a second time around." "I understand," Ozpin said. "Do keep me posted on these things if they do in fact develop. I'm greatly concerned for what this might entail given your description. Thank you for your time Mr. Narukami, and I promise I'll ensure everything that can be done to prevent this threat will be."

Ruby could hear Yu's footsteps as he left Ozpin's office. She tried to comprehend what she had just heard. "A god?" she asked. "Holy-!" She pushed herself back away from the window in shock! The force caused the entire tower to sway in that direction! "Ruby! What are you thinking?!" Blake said, as she and the others proceeded to right themselves. "Sorry!" Ruby said. "But we've got bad news!" "Well let's get down and maybe find out what that is," Hyde said, his body beginning to feel sore. "Please," Kanji uttered.

After a trying ordeal, group of teens had gotten back on solid ground with minimal injury. "Aww! Sweet terra firma!" Yosuke said in relief. "Now... ugh... what was it that they were saying?" Hyde asked, stretching out his sore joints.

"Yu says that some... thing called Izanami is what was twisting our dreams," Ruby replied. The entire Investigation Team all looked shocked. "I was worried about that," Yosuke said.

"The way that Narukami-kun described his dreams," Yukiko said, "it did sound just like what happened with her." "But how is that possible?" Naoto asked. "We killed Izanami!" "Yu says that our dreams felt just like what she could do," Ruby replied. "Or something like that. I'm not the one that was talking about it!"

"Is this Izanami really that bad?" Blake asked. "However bad you think she is, she's worse," Yosuke replied. "She's practically a god. We just barely escaped killing her. She nearly turned everyone in our home into Shadows. Everyone in our world."

"She gave people the power to enter the TV," Chie said, "and did nothing while people were dying! She created two lunatics just like that!"

Concern began to flood over Team RWBY and JNPR as they listened to what the Investigation Team had to say. "If what you say is true," Hyde said, "and this Izanami is coming back, we have to do something to stop her!" "But what can we do?" Chie asked.

"Well," Hyde replied, "looks like we might just have to figure that out as we go." The others looked at him in confusion. "I've handled a psycho, she-demon that called herself a 'god' before," Hyde said, "this shouldn't be too bad." Everyone looked at him with even more baffled looks now. "What he hell-?" Yosuke began.

The next moment however, Yu exited Professor Ozpin's office and saw the group gathered up. "Did I miss something?" he asked. "We were eavesdropping senpai," Kanji said simply, "and we heard what you said about Izanami. If you really think she's coming back, we have to know what we should do!"

"Well if you wanted to see me..." a voice said. What appeared as gusts of wind suddenly solidified and everyone saw a figure emerge from the fog to stand before them! It appeared as a woman with long gray hair, and pale white skin, with bloody red eyes wearing a long white robe. She smiled as she looked at them all. "All you had to do was ask."

The large team were all standing back, horrified or confused looks on their faces! "Izanami," Yu said quietly. "That's her?" Ruby asked. "That's her," Yukiko confirmed. "Good to know," Ruby said.

In a red blur she suddenly shot towards Izanami with her scythe extended! She slashed at Izanami across the chest, however, her attack as well as her own body went right through the figure! "What?" she asked. "So sorry to break it to you," Izanami said, "but I'm afraid that I'm not really here. In fact, I'm not really anywhere."

"What are you blathering about you sick freak?" Yosuke said angrily, holding his kunai. "It's a rather sad story," Izanami said. "After you all succeeded in defeating me, my physical body was destroyed. But a god is not so easily killed. I continued to exist as a psychic manifestation. A thought, to put it simply. Flowing between dream and reality."

Those words, "dream and reality" paired together like that gave Narukami a few flashbacks. But he was able to stave them off as he looked directly at Izanami. "So you _were_ the one that attacked our dreams," he said. "Attack is such a strong word," Izanami said. "I prefer 'played.' I was merely curious if you'd be strong enough to break away from the illusion that I had made for you."

"And to my satisfaction, you were. You were of no surprise of course Yu Narukami, you've broken from my illusions before, and Hyde Kido had to be saved by you. Quite an unfair advantage." "But what about me?" Ruby asked, having cautiously returned to the side of her companions. "My mind wasn't changed." "That wasn't the game," Izanami replied. "I was only seeing if these two could discover the truth. It was your world Miss Rose, and there was nothing left to try."

"Despite being obscured by fog, the three of you were capable of sticking close to the truth and working together to try and save yourselves until your friends and companions could free you from the dream. Very well done all around. You'll all be more than capable of the game to come."

"So if you're playing," Yang said, "what's your game?" "Good question," Izanami said. "For starters, I'm here to warn you. Something far nastier than I am took control of System XX and is threatening to use it to conquer different worlds."

Weiss and Ruby shared a horrified look. "That's impossible," Weiss said. "We destroyed that thing." "System XX appears to be suffering from the opposite problem I am now," Izanami said. "Whilst my physical body was destroyed I continue to exist as a mind, but System XX on the other hand had its mind destroyed, yet the body still exists."

"All the power that machine had, sitting at the heart of the Phantom Field, waiting to be used." "And now somebody is," Naoto finished. "That is right," Izanami said.

"Who?" Hyde asked. "I'm afraid that isn't for me to say," Izanami said. "Oh don't give me that crap," Hyde muttered.

"Well if you don't mind me asking," Weiss said, "why are you telling us this?" "Because," Izanami said, "I certainly don't want to lose such unique individuals such as you. While this entity threatens the good of all things, something that I stand against, we do have common beliefs and I hope to be the player on the opposite side of the board to move our pieces in this game and see what ending might come."

"Don't give us that!" Kanji said. " 'Something that I stand against,' " Yosuke spat. "You nearly turned everyone in our world into Shadows! And don't you even dare say that was 'what humanity wanted'!" "It hardly matters," Izanami said. "The past is the past, and this is now."

"So that's it?" Blake asked. "You come here to warn us and then you just vanish?" "Oh hardly," Izanami said. "I have my own game that I wish to play while this all goes along."

"The mind is such a vital thing, but what can happen when one can no longer ascertain the dream from reality? So while you go charge valiantly on, I will be watching from the side, analyzing the layers of your minds piece by piece. Taking things apart, and putting them somewhere else. Then when you can no longer remember which world you belong to, how shall that affect which one will you end up saving?"

"What-? That's sick!" Yukiko said. "Don't play with our minds Izanami!" Yu said. "You have no right!" "I don't need it," Izanami said.

"Until another day, my heroes. Don't keep the villain waiting." Izanami vanished from sight the next instant.

"So... that's it?" Yang asked. "This lady is just gonna try and play with our minds this entire time? And what did she mean by somebody else taking control of System XX? Who else is there?"

"I don't know," Yu replied. "But for the time being, we should focus on other things." "He's right," Blake said. "This Izanami is gonna be toying with our minds? What does she mean?"

"Actually that's not what I meant," Yu said. Everyone looked at him with questioning looks. "Am I the only one that is seriously hungry?" he asked. Everyone comically fell on their faces!

* * *

The kitchen in the Beacon Academy dorm rooms was constantly kept up to stock with delicious food, and this couldn't make our heroes happier! Despite the tension of what Izanami told them, they still found themselves able to smile as they gathered around to come up with a meal. "So what should we make?" Yosuke asked. "Not sure," Kanji said. "They've got beef, pork, chicken, just about any protein. Not to mention veggies every color of the rainbow."

"How can they stay so calm?" Weiss asked Blake. "That psycho goddess just told us she's going to be playing with our minds from behind the scenes, and they're more worried about what to eat." "I suppose they're just keeping positive?" Blake said. "Just look at Ruby and Yang." She pointed to another corner of the kitchen, where the sisters were arguing with one another. "And I told you, that we're having something with protein!" Yang said. "But why should we wait when we could have something sweet!" Ruby said. "It's not filling!" Yang said. "Who said it had to be?" Ruby asked. "We can eat that now and worry about something else later!"

"Everyone," Yu said, "there is something of crucial importance that I must ask you now!" Everyone was expecting something else nowhere near as important as he was making it sound. "We should discuss who will be our leader," Yu said. Everyone else stopped what they were doing at that declaration. Mainly because it was actually... unironic.

"He's right," Kanji said. "If we're gonna be stuck here, we should think about who's gonna lead us next time we have to fight something. But, isn't that you senpai?" "I may be the leader of the Investigation Team," Yu said, "but Remnant is not my world. I have no idea what threats might lurk here, so I may not be the best candidate to lead us into battle."

"Don't beat yourself up like that partner," Yosuke said. "I'd follow you anywhere, and I'm sure the others would too." Yu shook his head. "I don't want to take that risk," he said. "So... does anybody else have any candidates?"

"Well," Yang said, "Ruby is the leader of our team. Maybe she could lead everyone else too?" "Yang! Hush!" Ruby said. "Don't say that," Blake said. "She's lead us into battle against a criminal organization, and we managed to not die."

"I'm okay with that," Yu said. "Not dying is the first step on leading an effective team." "If you say so," Yosuke said. "Huh!? W-wait!" Ruby said. "I don't know if I can handle leading all of you!" "Of course you can!" Yang said. "And if you need help, I'll be willing to offer my guidance," Yu added.

Ruby felt herself sweating. She thought she could barely just lead her own team, but now she had to deal with nearly a dozen individuals from other worlds that were all depending on her as leader? What did she do to deserve this? _Oh that's right,_ she thought, _I'm the one that killed System XX and caused all this to begin with!_

"It's ready!" Chie's voice said. "It?" everyone else asked. Suddenly, Chie and Yukiko came out of a side room with a kettle in their hands. "We thought that we'd surprise you," Yukiko said, "and whip something up while you all were talking."

"Huh!?" all the boys yelled. "No way! Hold on! Have mercy!" Yosuke said. "What's wrong?" Yang asked. "You don't want them feeding you," Kanji said. "It will not be pleasant! And on some occasions, it will be painful!"

"Oh get over yourselves!" Chie said. "What were you talking about?" Yukiko asked, setting the pot down. "We... uh... were assigning Ruby as our leader," Yu said. "Oh really?" Chie asked. "In that case, you get the first bite new leader!" "Okay!" Ruby said happily.

Before the boys could stop her, Ruby took a bite of the stew. She suddenly convulsed and fell over on the ground! "Ruby!" everyone yelled. "The return of Mystery Food X!" Yu said in fear.

The girls all began frantically trying to revive Ruby, as Yosuke could only sigh on the sidelines. He looked around, but a confused look came over his face. "Hey, where're Hyde and those girls of his?" he asked.

* * *

Hyde was sitting outside with Orie, watching as the sun sat in the middle of the sky. It felt like the day had only just begun and yet already it was on the cusp of setting. However, Hyde wasn't worried about the time as he was more concerned about his absent partner.

"She left?" Hyde asked. "That's correct," Orie replied. "Unfortunately I couldn't stop her, as she was rather adamant." "Let me guess," Hyde said, "she didn't tell me to my face because she knew that I'd try to stop her." Orie nodded. "Right," Hyde said.

Hyde pulled his legs up and put his chin against his knees, a thick pout on his face. "She said that Waldstein would be with her," Orie said. "Apparently she had found him in the woods and told him to wait for her somewhere. They'll take care of each other." "It's not that," Hyde said. "It's the fact she doesn't know anything about this world."

"Whatever she's looking for, I doubt she's gonna find it out there." "We can't worry about that Kido," Orie said. "All we can do is just hope for the best." "I suppose," Hyde replied.

The two made eye contact, bloody red meeting deep purple. The contact was brief, but Hyde's face turned red. He didn't admit it, but he found Orie as a really beautiful girl. And she was exactly his type too. Long hair, and well toned body.

He shot up to his feet, not wanting to dive down that rabbit hole! Things were bad enough after that twisted vision Izanami gave him, making him believe they were 'partners.' He even knew what she had confirmed to be her last name, "Ballardiae," when he had never even knew it. He had only ever known her as Orie Harada, which he had since learned was a false name created by the Licht Kries.

He still didn't really know what the Licht Kries was. They hadn't had the time to talk about that. But the heat in his face was telling him that now was not the best time.

"Kido, are you alright?" Orie asked, grabbing his hand. "Well, no sense dwelling!" he said, taking his hand away. "Let's go meet up with the others, eh?"

Hyde hastily went towards the dorm. _Ugh! Why does our relationship have to be so weird?_ he asked. _I meet a girl that I think, "Hey! Maybe we could start dating?" And of course she turns out to be some kind of a superpowered nun or some crap like that!_

 _Now I don't know if we_ should _go out. She's the only girl that I ever really thought was in my league. You know except for -_

"Ruby!" Hyde perked up from his thoughts as he saw Ruby sprawled out on a sofa being looked over by everyone else. "What the heck happened?" he asked. "We just tried to give Ruby something to eat!" Yukiko said.

Hyde would've questioned how that could have incapacitated Ruby in such a way, but recalled what he had seen from Yukiko's side of the kitchen back in the Phantom Field. So, suffice to say, he decided not to question it. "Okay," he said, "do we have anything in here that's actually edible?"

"Unfortunately no," Yosuke said. "How in the world did Ruby get so incapacitated," Orie said, "just by eating something?" "Mystery Food X is a cruel mistress," Kanji replied. The other two were just left baffled.

"Alright whatever," Hyde said. "If anybody's gonna get fed over here I might as well be the one to do the feeding." "You can cook?" Yosuke asked. "Yeah," Hyde replied. "I cook for myself all the time and have even made food for Linne and Waldstein. Is that a problem?" "So long as I can eat it," Yosuke said, "then no."

Hyde proceeded to enter the kitchen and saw Chie and Yukiko guiltily standing on the sidelines, having been shooed away by Ruby's teammates. "So what exactly did you two do?" he asked. "We just tried cooking," Yukiko said. "We were gonna surprise everybody while they were busy deciding on something to eat." "Well you definitely succeeded there," Hyde said.

"Why does it always happen to us?" Chie asked. "Uh... what exactly happened to Naoto?" Kanji asked. "Huh? Hey, yeah," Yosuke said. "Where the heck did she go?" As if on cue, Naoto herself exited from the background, putting her uniform jacket back on.

"Sorry," she said. "My stomach couldn't handle the ordeal that went down back in the other kitchen." "What do you mean?" Yu asked. "Did they feed you that?" "No," Naoto said. "I only saw... everything..." "She was supposed to be giving us some extra directions," Chie said. "But she left midway through!" "I've never quite seen anything like it," Naoto said, horror in her tone.

It took a few minutes, but Ruby was soon able to recover after some water and a mint. _First few minutes as joint leader,_ she thought, _and I'm nearly killed by food!_

"Are you okay Ruby?" Chie asked. "We're really, really sorry again for what happened!" "It's fine," Ruby said, attempting to sit up. "Just please, never put me through that again."

"Here. Maybe this will help," Hyde said. Ruby looked up just in time to have another spoon shoved in her throat. Hyde too had used the ingredients the girls had left untouched to produce his own stew, but unlike the last one that hit Ruby worse than a Grimm slicing through her Aura, this one actually tasted good! Great even! It was like her entire body was suddenly filled with lights!

Her eyes shone brighter than usual as she enjoyed the heavenly flavor, Hyde putting the bowl right in front of her. The moment it sat down, Ruby grabbed the spoon and began taking more and more scoops! "Well," Yang said, "looks like she likes it! Way to go!" "Let me try! Please!" Yosuke said. He grabbed his own bowl and spoon and took a huge bite. The moment the spoon entered his mouth, he too was put into a state of euphoria!

"It's glorious!" he said. "Finally something that tastes delicious!" Everyone else eagerly got their own servings and were delighted by how good it tasted! "Dude. What did you put in that?" Kanji asked, standing aside. "Just some extra herbs to give it a bit more kick," Hyde replied. "It's really simple. If you want, I can show you some time." "Hm? Me? Cook?" Kanji asked. "Sure," Hyde said. "Comparing you to your competition, I'm sure you'd do great." "We heard that!" Chie and Yukiko said.

"Truth be told Kido-kun," Chie said, "this is really delicious! Thank you so much for making it!" "Yes!" Yukiko said. "And maybe you could help teach us sometime too!" Naoto was in the back waving her head 'no!' over and over again! Hyde could only chuckle awkwardly, unsure how to respond.

The time spent between the group dragged on late into the night, until they all finally got to bed. Nobody was entirely sure what fate would have in store for them in the future, especially knowing that Izanami and some other individual were lurking in the shadows. But whatever it was, hopefully they would be able to handle it.

* * *

The bright blue room that sat within the heart of a big limousine of some kind, continuing on its never ending ride was a sight that Yu Narukami had grown ever familiar with. And sitting behind a table just in front of him, sitting comfortably in his seat, was the master of this place - Igor. The elderly, almost gremlinlike form of the man's long, long nose, bloodshot eyes, and cheshire grin gave him a frightening look, that clashed with his oddly silky voice.

"Welcome to my Velvet Room," he said kindly. "Ah~, it seems you've met with a terrible fate, haven't you? Estranged from your world, with no clear way how to get back."

"In this new world, you will form new bonds that will ultimately lead you to your goal. You must cherish these relationships and hold them close, and not take them for granted. They will give you strength, and help you succeed where you have failed before."

"Only together can any of you truly triumph over the darkness. For separated, nobody will ever have the strength to succeed. Do you understand?" Narukami did have an idea of what he meant, but he had a different question to ask.

"Why are you here? How are you here?" Igor merely chuckled. "This place exists between dream and reality," he said, "mind and matter. It is the same in every world. Never different, no matter where we go."

"I will be watching from the sidelines, awaiting your next arrival. Until then..." The sight of the Velvet Room fell away, and Yu felt a slight pang of annoyance as he saw that there was yet another figure merely watching them go. Just how many of these people were gonna be watching them like puppets?

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: Phew! This one took a**_ **lot _longer than I thought it would! But thankfully we're over and we can move on now!_**

 ** _As I mentioned already, I took out the "opening theme" I used in the last chapters so it would not break immersion. I did this because, in all honesty, I can see just how silly it is and I do somewhat regret doing it. I don't want to give the wrong impression when I say that, but I honestly do think that it was not a good idea in hindsight, for a story like this which does focus more on keeping the readers invested._**

 ** _Knowing all three franchises, with all the great music there is in all of them, incorporating music was a natural idea, but one that I think is not to be included. Another thing I will ask, because of this, is if I should go back and edit the first two chapters and take those out. I thought it'd be best to leave them as is to remember how I started, but if I want this story to be great for new readers I think that something like that is just plain awkward._**

 ** _Anyways, on to the chapter itself, this is the last one that acts mainly as groundwork to get the story going. The next few chapters will be the start to the more slice of life aspects. First things first, we now know what became of Yu, Ruby, and Hyde, which is none other than the final boss of Persona 4, Izanami. The idea I had was to incorporate villains from the different franchises, and Izanami was the best fit for this one. She will be more of the puppetmaster style of villain, operating mostly from the sidelines to twist the heroes around. I felt it was going to be a really rough way of bringing her into this, but I feel I did it okay._**

 ** _But the biggest thing that I was thrown off with, was the way of bringing these characters together. This opening went completely out of control, and was definitely a trip to go down to try and bring things together coherently. And all I can say is that I cannot thank those that have followed this story enough for believing in it. Truly I could've wasted even more years of my life never publishing anything like this, and figured it'd just be best I jump into the deep end and finally get something out for people to see that I was at least halfway confident in._**

 ** _So to give you guys another idea of things to come, mainly the characters that will be focused on. Something that I did not know how to handle, were so many characters that I loved so much and wanted to focus on all around! So, I figure the easiest idea will be going for more of a Persona Q idea and give each character their spaces for the main protagonists to encounter during strolls._**

 ** _To explain a little bit more of my thought process, the "main characters" of this will be Ruby, Hyde, and Yu. They will be the ones that have the spotlight on them for the most part, and be the ones that often will have the chapters focus on specifically._**

 ** _The strongest "supporting characters" will be Weiss, Blake, Yang, Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko. They are the characters I find the most engaging of the other characters and are the ones that deserve a lot of focus on. However, it will be regulated enough to the point this story is going into an identity crisis._**

 ** _Other characters will be regulated to somewhat minor supporting roles like Kanji, Naoto, Orie, and Team JNPR. They will be featured, but not as strong as the others like Weiss, Yosuke, or Chie. Once more, I feel that a part of me doesn't like that idea, but so long as they come about and have their opportunity to shine, I think it'll be okay._**

 ** _Once again, let me know things you'd like to see our heroes do, and what you'd like to see more of in the future! I love hearing suggestions and ways I can improve the story, and I hope to continue to satisfy! And as always, I hope you have a great evening and thank you for reading._**


	4. Chapter 4: Acclimation

_**A New Lease on Life.**_

 _ **Chapter Four: Acclimation.**_

She was lost. She had no clue how she was going to get out of this. And to finally top it off, she swore that she was gonna be slain by, not the Creatures of Grimm, but by the girl she was stuck with.

Ruby was snapped from her thoughts by the caterwaul of the white haired girl she'd unfortunately been seated with by the name of Weiss Schnee. From minute one of their meeting, this girl had easily become the most annoying thing Ruby had ever had the displeasure of knowing existed. "I'm positive this time! It's this way!" Weiss said. "Do you mind hurrying little miss riding hood?"

Ruby rolled her eyes at the insult. _Yeah, like I'd never heard that one before_ , she thought. But she didn't care what people thought of her hood. It was important to her.

"My name is Ruby!" she said, reluctantly following behind. They'd been wandering for what felt like hours and Ruby felt they were nowhere closer to their destination than they were when they first started. "You have no sense of direction Weiss," she added. "We're nowhere near it!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Weiss said. "All you can do is follow me, I know where to go." "I'm not much of a follower!" Ruby said in frustration. "I'm not so sure about that," Weiss said. What exactly she meant was lost on Ruby.

"Mind telling me why a girl like you would join the academy?" "To be a Huntress of course!" Ruby replied, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "Like the ones in the stories!"

Weiss scowled, which she seemed to be an average expression for her. "Stories?" she asked. "Unbelievable. I came here to learn. To grow stronger."

She whirled around to look Ruby dead in the eye! "I strive for perfection. Unlike you, I'm not here for fun and games."

"If all you want is to be part of the stories, give up and go home. Your mother is waiting to read one to you." Ruby felt her heart rate increase exponentially.

"You... you don't know anything!" she said angrily.

* * *

Hyde's eyes burnt as he awoke, dreams disturbing his sleep. He didn't know what time it was, yet he didn't care. Whatever time it was, it was far too early for his liking.

He looked around the near pitch black room, his eyes not bothered in the slightest by the dark. Orie was fast asleep in the bed beside his, the back of her head facing him. In the bed in front of hers was Naoto, her hat hanging on the bed post. And if the snoring was any indication, Kanji was sound asleep in the bed in front of Hyde's own.

Hyde lolled his head back and stared blankly at the ceiling. He had the sneaking suspicion that his dreams would be plagued based on what Izanami had said earlier that afternoon, so he shouldn't have been surprised at all. But more than that, he just had this inkling that whatever had happened to him back in the fog wasn't done with him.

He didn't mention it back with the others, but he still felt... incomplete, for lack of a better word. Like he was being pulled from where he was to a dozen other places at once. Yet at the same time, no matter where his mind wandered, he felt like he didn't belong anywhere.

True, that had technically begun back in Kanzakai, not Vale. When Hyde had become an In-Birth, he felt that his life as he knew it was over. He was now stuck in a war he wanted nothing to do with, and was stuck hunting Voids and fighting off psychos like the ones from Amnesia, or even just basic lunatics like Carmine.

But he never really felt like he belonged there. He never wanted anything to do with the Hollow Night. He never felt like this was something he wanted to do. He was just stuck there, as the Unknown Actor. The Wild Card. Unaligned.

Only now things were worse. His memories, those that he had, felt wrong. New ones, that belonged to others, were stuck in his head. And he had no idea why he was suffering these like this.

He rubbed his head, but it did nothing to help. "What's wrong with me?" he asked himself. His chest felt heavy, as if he had trouble breathing. Actually, he did have trouble breathing, as he felt a weight was pressing down on his chest.

He looked down, and felt his eye twitch out of annoyance. Laying on top of him, her head resting on her hands that were laid across Hyde's chest, was Yuzuriha. It was just like her. Showing up without any announcement, nothing to reassure Hyde who was worried sick when he heard she was still in the Forever Fall. Just to find him and fall asleep on top of him.

He poked her right between the eyes in an attempt to wake her. She mumbled as her eyes slowly opened one at a time. "Whut?" she asked. "Yuzu," Hyde said, as quietly as he dared, "you know that this isn't helping the very reason why you broke off our relationship, right?" "But it's okay since it's me who's doing it," Yuzu replied, without missing a beat. "Plus, we did stuff like this before. It's fun right~?"

"Yuzuriha," Hyde said, "get off of me!"

* * *

Hyde yawned like he'd never yawned before, as he found himself stumbling around the Kingdom of Vale, alongside Orie, Ruby, Weiss, and the Investigation Team, the sun stinging his eyes. There was a multitude of awed expressions or statements from the group as they moved. True, the Kingdom of Valve was quite an extravagant place to look at, with a certain scifi, techno/steampunk vibe to it. It was far beyond anything that his world, or the Investigation Team's from their statements, was capable of, but Hyde could not care less at the moment. The last thing that he needed at this hour, or any hour preferably, was more exposition.

As they walked, Weiss rattled off a multitude of information from her mouth. Things like Atlesian technological advances or different implementations of Dust across the globe, and two dozen other things that Hyde could not care for.

"What're we doing here?" Hyde asked. "We already told you!" Weiss replied. "We're getting you all different clothes. You don't have anything else to wear aside from the clothes you came in, which are all uniforms. If you're going to be going out and about in Vale, like you should be, you have to have some more casual wear."

"Casual?" Yosuke asked. "This coming from you, the girl that wears a dress everywhere she goes?" "It's a combat skirt!" Weiss refuted. "Yeah!" Ruby agreed.

"Whatever," Yosuke said. "The point he's trying to make," Yu said, "is thank you very much. We really appreciate you both agreeing to help us out like this." A row of 'thank you's' came from the others as well. "Think nothing of it," Weiss said. "I'm just pleased to see some gratitude." Yosuke stuck out his tongue at Weiss, who followed suit with her own.

"Hey, hey," Orie said, approaching Weiss's left, "maybe we shouldn't jump to arguments!" "Agreed," Yukiko said, moving to her other side, "let's worry about clothes, yes?" Weiss nodded, more than happy to get an excuse to ignore Yosuke.

"Blake and Yang," Ruby said, "would've been happy to help too, but Blake said she had something to do, and now that Yuzuriha is back, Yang wanted a 'rematch' with her?" "Ah yeah," Yosuke said. "Kinda wish I didn't miss that." "Yosuke!" Chie said, smacking him in the head." Her face was bright red as she experienced the indignity of recalling her own massive failure battling Yuzuriha.

"I don't see how you're going to help Ruby," Weiss said. "You're broke. I'm the one stuck with buying everything." "But I'm the leader!" Ruby said. "It's my job to keep an eye on everyone!" "I thought that you didn't want to be joint leader," Weiss said. "It grew on me," Ruby said.

Hyde looked at Ruby and Weiss's banter with a face of intrigue. He couldn't get over the dream he had last night of their argument from who knows when. But he also couldn't deny that his gut was telling him it wasn't a dream, but a memory. Not his own naturally, but something that Izanami plucked from... somewhere to further confuse him.

But if it wasn't a dream, what did it mean? Why did he have it? Why that memory specifically?

He couldn't help but be more confused, since he knew these two from before in the Phantom Field. Ruby was pretty much the same in the dream. Weiss however was far different. A lot more prickly.

But that thing Weiss had said to Ruby that seemed really odd. As if something about that resonated with Ruby for some reason that Hyde could not understand. Something that brought back bad blood. He supposed that he'd just have to brush it aside for now.

While he really wanted to learn about what the story was, he didn't want to bring it up. He might've been on good terms with Ruby, and even Weiss, he didn't know them nearly well enough to bring this up. Especially Ruby.

The group soon arrived at the mall where they would select their clothes, entering the boutique that Weiss had in mind. "Okay," Ruby said, "so let's try to do this as best we can. So team, let's-!" Weiss proceeded to pull Ruby's hood over her eyes. "Pay no attention to the child beneath the hood," she said. "Go about as you will, just don't go overboard with your purchases just because I'm rich and am choosing to kindly reimburse your clothing."

"Thanks Weiss," Yu said, guiding the gentlemen to the boys' section, as the other chunk of girls went their own way as well. Weiss finally released Ruby from her hold, as the red hooded girl glared heavily at her partner. "Weiss! What gives!?" she yelled. "As leader, you can't do that to me!" "I don't recall seeing where that was written," Weiss said. "Just because you're joint leader, for whatever reason that escapes me, doesn't mean you have to go about mother henning. We're just getting clothes. It's not like we're prepping for battle."

Weiss strutted away, as Ruby was left to her own devices. Much to her annoyance. With little other choice, she merely paced around impatiently in the girls' section as Weiss did her best to direct everyone around.

"So do you know what you all might want?" she asked. "I think we have an idea, don't we Yukiko?" Chie asked. Yukiko nodded in agreeance. "We have some outfits back in Inaba that we wear sometimes that we're hoping to find some copies of here."

"Well if you need some help, let me know," Weiss said. "Uh, Weiss?" Orie asked. "Yes Orie?" Weiss replied. "Could you help me find some outfits? I really like your style, so I thought I could ask you." "Sure thing Orie," Weiss replied. "I'm flattered actually."

Ruby continued pacing around, watching as Weiss and Orie talked. She was happy to see Weiss reaching out more, and actually offering to interact with others for once. She couldn't help but smile as she was so proud to see how far Weiss had come, and actually offer a kind smile or comfort.

But that was quickly replaced by Ruby's own boredom. She didn't need more clothes, and she wasn't one for clothes shopping at all, so she was left with nothing to interest her. She continued to wait, before she spotted something that caught her eye. It was red fabric and threat used for sewing. She hastily snatched it up under everyone's gaze and held it under her arm. Her hood required maintenance sometimes, and something like that was a big help. Especially since she wore it literally ninety-five percent of everywhere she went.

As she looked back to the group of girls, she did a double take as her numbers appeared to have dropped by one. "Say," she said. "Where's the short girl with the hat? What was her name again, still trying to keep track of them. Forgive me." "You mean Naoto?" Chie asked. "She went to the guys' section." "Oh," Ruby said. "Because she dresses like a boy, huh?" "That's right," Chie sighed.

"I'll be right back," Ruby said, quickly turning! Anything to get out of the monotony of clothes shopping was a blessing to be sure! "I wouldn't waste my breath if I were you," Chie called behind her! "When she makes up her mind, that's it."

Ruby didn't listen, as she hastily found the girl in question looking through a section of coats. "Hey! Naoto, right?" Ruby asked the Detective Prince. "Hm?" she asked in response. "Oh, yes, that is me. Something I can help you with?" "Not really," Ruby replied. "I was just wondering if there was something that I could help with."

Naoto looked back at the coats. "Nothing so much," she replied. "I just have a preferred style I like to keep to." "Dressing like a boy?" Ruby asked. Naoto faltered. "P-perhaps," she said. "I just... I've never been fond of dressing in standard 'female' attire. Like skirts, or dresses. It's not something that appeals to me so much."

"It's fine," Ruby said. "I get it. I mean, look at me. You're looking at the girl that wears a cape 24/7. I don't think I have room to judge." Naoto couldn't help but laugh. "I suppose," she said.

"If you don't mind, why do you wear that? Is there a special reason?" Ruby used her free hand to rub her cape between her fingers. "Yeah, there is," she said dreamily. "Somebody really special gave it to me. They wore a cape and a hood like this too. It's in memory, you could say." Naoto's expression was unreadable, but she merely looked away from Ruby once again to continue browsing.

"I understand," she said. "Thank you, for sharing." "No problem," Ruby replied. "And thank you for agreeing to buy at least a single outfit that is more feminine." "Your welcome- ?! Wait, what was that?" By the time Naoto turned back around, Ruby had vanished, leaving only a few rose petals behind her.

Ruby decided to use this opportunity to check up on the guys, realizing quickly that the same problem she had seen last time when she had checked the girls was present here too, as Hyde was now the one missing. "Have you guys seen Hyde?" she asked. "He said he was going to those couches," Yosuke replied.

Ruby recalled there were a few couches that had been posted up in the middle of the store, about where the divide between boys and girls was. "He said that he wanted to take a nap," Yosuke said. "A nap?" Ruby asked.

She hurried back there, and found Hyde laying flat on his back on one of them, snoring lightly. "Hyde?" she asked. "You okay?" She poked Hyde several times, before he finally woke up and looked at her. Ruby pushed his legs aside, causing him to sit up as she sat next to him.

"You alright?" she asked again. "Uh... yeah," Hyde replied. "Why'd you wake me up?" "Because the others told me that you weren't shopping, and were instead napping. What's up? You not sleep well?" "Did you?" Hyde asked. Ruby shrugged.

"I slept fine," she said. "Did Izanami do something to you last night? Is she pulling some mind games?" "You could say that," Hyde said. He didn't know whether or not he should share the fact that he was dreaming of her last night. Whatever was going on with her and Weiss was clearly sensitive, and he was happy he woke up when he did, in order to avoid things getting more serious.

"Yes, I think Izanami did something to my dreams last night," he said. "Do you want to talk about it?" Ruby asked. "No," Hyde replied, before he quickly caught himself. "Sorry, that was rude." "It's okay," Ruby replied. "But, when you want to talk, if at all, I'd be willing to listen. Not just as your team leader, but as a friend."

Hyde looked back at Ruby. "We're friends? Just like that?" he asked. "We barely know each other aside from basic backstories." "That might be," Ruby said. "But you helped me back in the Phantom Field. True, I wasn't in any real danger, since Yosuke and Chie are cool, but you stood up for me when you thought I was in trouble. You didn't take me getting bullied. That's the signs of somebody I'd want to have as a friend."

Hyde felt touched. If Linne were here, she would have said that Ruby was being far too trusting. She didn't know the kinds of things that Hyde had seen or would eventually do. But, Hyde was somewhat thankful.

Ruby had always been a good friend. She was always willing to stick up for other people that she felt needed her, whether as a partner, or as a friend. Right? At least, that sounded right in his head.

Truth be told he wasn't sure how he felt aside from just scared. He was avoiding his fears by not talking to Ruby. Not only the fear of what he was seeing, memories not his own, but the fact of what it could mean. Why was he seeing these things? Could his mind really be running away with itself? Could he be forgetting his own identity?

Was anyone else experiencing it? Not. They would say, he knew it. He wasn't because he was weaker than they were. More afraid than they were.

Absentmindedly, Hyde reached out and grabbed Ruby's hand that was resting on the couch. Ruby squeaked in surprise, her face reddening as she saw Hyde grab her hand. She didn't exactly know what to say or do, as she had never consented to any guy grabbing her hand in such a touching fashion!

"I approve," Yu said. Both Ruby and Hyde jumped to their feet in surprise, turning to see Yu standing by casually, a set of clothes tucked under his arms. "Yu! When - how long were you standing there?" Ruby asked. "I followed you," Yu replied. "Well, don't do that!" Ruby said.

"And... what did you approve of?" she added nervously. "Listening to Hyde," Yu replied, "when he wants to talk. What did you think I was approving of?" "Nothing!" Ruby added hastily.

Hyde was confused for a moment, before Yu stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "I've learned in the past," Yu said, "that not keeping up any walls with people, is something that can only bring you closer. Even when you're dealing with aspects of yourself that you don't want to acknowledge, facing these things will make you stronger. And accepting them with others around you, can only make you that much stronger."

Yu turned and walked away, leaving a stunned Hyde and awed Ruby behind him. "Although," he added, "that may just be when dealing with your Shadows." Both Ruby and Hyde collapsed comically.

Before too much longer, the group had their clothes picked out and moved to the dressing room to try them on. As Ruby and Weiss waited as an audience, the red leader saw that Hyde was waiting with them. "Hyde, don't you thin you should try on some clothes too?" she asked. "Not really," he replied.

"Excuse me?" Weiss asked in annoyance. "All you have is your school uniform." "This isn't much of a uniform," Hyde said, picking at his collar. "Outside of the jacket, the rest is simply my own shirt or pants." Weiss growled under her breath. "Don't think this is over Kido," she said.

The Investigation Team tried on their own clothes to the captive audience. They had succeeded in selecting clothes that matched their standard attire back in Inaba, much to their enjoyment. The other three all agreed that the clothes looked really good on them as well.

Yosuke got an outfit consisting of a white jacket over a plain orange t-shirt, with cargo pants and boots."So ladies," he said, "what do you think?" "I suppose it looks better than I was anticipating," Weiss said. "Well what were you anticipating?" Yosuke asked. "I don't think you want her to answer that," Ruby replied. Hyde nodding in agreement.

Chie had a heavy green jacket with matching boots, and a pair of jean shorts."Yeah I figured that'd be your style," Ruby said happily. "Is that in a good way or a bad way?" Chie asked, rubbing her neck. "Do you think I should have gotten something else?" "No no!" Ruby said. "I mean, you remind me a bit of my sister, and she wears clothes like that all the time. It looks great!" "Oh, thanks," Chie said in relief.

Yukiko got a bright red dress over a black top, with a matching jacket and a pair of black shoes. "Hm, looks rather lovely," Weiss said. "Oh thank you!" Yukiko replied happily. "I see we wear matching colors!" Ruby added. "Perhaps you should get something in white or blue," Weiss hastily added. "Hey!" Ruby said angrily. "Isn't that Weiss's line?" Hyde asked. "Hey!" Weiss said. "I rest my case," Hyde said.

Kanji got a plain leather jacket, with matching pants, and pair of brown leather shoes. "Looking good dude!" Yosuke said. "Uh, thanks Yosuke-Senpai," Kanji said. "So... uh, what do you girls think?" "Looks nice," Ruby said. "I concur," Weiss added.

Ruby saw Naoto come out next, with a large jacket that gave off a distinct Victorian, almost Sherlock Holmes vibe (does Sherlock Homes exist on Remnant you ask? Good question) that was a matching blue to her hat she wore, with a pair of heavy brown boots, and pinstriped bluish-green pants. "So where's your more feminine outfit?" Ruby asked. "I... d-didn't get one?" Naoto replied. "I thought we had an agreement," Ruby said. "An agreement you forced me into," Naoto added dryly. "Will you both relax?" Hyde asked.

Finally Yu came out, wearing an outfit that definitely gave the others pause. He was wearing a jacket that was indistinguishable from his uniform jacket, over a black zip-up shirt, and a pair of matching shoes and pants. "Hm? Is something the matter?" he asked. "Your clothes..." Ruby said. "What about them?" Yu asked. "They're almost exactly the same as your last clothes!" Weiss replied. "That's Narukami for you," Yosuke said.

"Why would you get clothes almost the same as your Yasogami uniform?" Weiss asked. "Because it's comfortable," Yu said. Weiss groaned. "Just when I was thinking you weren't nearly as dumb as Yosuke," she said. "Hey!" Yosuke said. "What is your problem with me?" "I'm not privy to thick-headed perverts," Weiss said. "When have I ever been perverted!?" Yosuke asked. "And don't you three say a thing," he quickly added to the girls of the Investigation Team, who all began whistling to themselves.

Hyde rolled his eyes. He turned to find Orie come out of her own dressing room. She was now wearing a light gray sweater underneath a darker gray skirt with a interconnected top with two straps that went over her shoulders. "Hey Harada," he said happily. "You look good." "Really?" she asked. "This is like the clothes I wore when I first came to Kanzakai. Y-you're sure it looks good?" "Yeah," Hyde replied. "You look great."

She gained a little red on her cheeks as she smiled happily. "Hey Orie!" Ruby said. "Wow! You look really good! I guess that you and Weiss really well get along if your clothes are anything to go off of." "Yeah," Orie replied. "Weiss really did strike me as a person I can discuss with more in the future." "Maybe Yukiko can also hang out with her too," Hyde said. "Maybe they can teach her to make something edible," Ruby said, shuddering in fear over her memories of Mystery Food X.

"So, if we've gotten everything, are we all set?" she asked. She did a double take as she saw Yosuke and Weiss still in a heated argument. "Will you two knock it off!" she said. Yosuke and Weiss stopped arguing to look at Ruby.

"If we're all done arguing, can we please just go?" Ruby asked. "Yes indeed," Yosuke said, more than happy to get away from Weiss. "Let's get back! Still plenty of time for me to get some r&r." "Not on your life Hanamura," Chie said. "We're gonna have a lot to do, so you are not slouching! Got that?"

"What's with them?" Weiss asked. "New school life," Yu replied, "and even a new life in general, it's a lot to take in. All of us want to ensure that we at least have a basic understanding going in."

"Makes sense," Hyde admitted. "Right now however, I'm a little more worried with how Yang is holding up with Yuzu."

* * *

It turns out, Yang's training did not go much better than it did the last time. By the time the team got back, those who'd purchased new clothes hurried off to change, leaving Ruby, Weiss, and Hyde to find the others. They did in fact find them in one of the large fields around the school.

Yuzuriha had once again succeeding in pinning Yang to the ground, sitting on her back this time on her knees, using them to pin her down, and had hooked her arms around once again to pin them behind her back, pretty much leaving Yang only able to flail her legs around uselessly. The biggest surprise outside of this however, was the fact Nora had also been beaten, getting trapped in a headlock by Yuzu!

"Hey guys! Welcome back," Yuzu said casually. "Yang..." Weiss said, looking rather unimpressed. "How did this happen" "Don't say things, I'm concentrating!" Yang replied, her eyes blazing red.

Ruby began to giggle at the sight, having not witnessed Yang's prior defeat. It started off quietly at first, but began quickly rising in volume. "Oh God. No, Ruby no!" Yang said, her eyes returning to their natural violet color. That did it. Ruby burst into laughter, killing Yang's will to keep fighting.

"Whom I more intrigued by," Weiss said, as Ruby continued laughing, much to Hyde's entertainment, "is Nora. How in the world did she catch you?" "This foul vixen won't hold me forever!" Nora said. "Come on! Show me your best - huegh!" She was cut off by Yuzu adding more pressure to her neck.

"It only takes about eleven pounds of pressure to collapse a windpipe you know," Yuzu said. "But I've got Aura!" Nora replied. She choked once more as Yuzu continued to add more strength to her hold!

After a few minutes, she decided to release the both of them, leaving them gasping and sweating on the ground. "Y'know," she said to Hyde, "since we're gonna be stuck here for awhile it looks like, I wouldn't mind taking up our training again. Especially since that loli of yours pulled a vanishing act."

Hyde was reasonably stunned. Did she just forget what had happened between them? Sure she wasn't one to hold a grudge, but it still seemed rather sudden, even under the circumstances.

"But not today," she added. She pulled her sword from the ground and looked it over. "So Blake," she said, "did you want to take up that sword practice I offered you?" Blake, who had been reading by a tree for a time in order to keep an eye on the others, looked around nervously. "Can I not and say that I did?" "No," Yuzu added, looking at her with eyes so hungry it left Blake gulping in fear.

"Come on Blake!" she said. "You've gotta do it. And after Hyde, you can give me a bath." "What?!" Weiss and Ruby screamed. "Not this side of hell," Hyde added coldly.

Ruby was taken aback by her own response. Why the heck did she just freak out like that? Weiss was one thing, but she was not one to get so easily frazzled.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a green blur rushing past her! "Yuzuriha!" Chie yelled, delivering a massive midair kick towards the magenta haired samurai... who wasn't stunned in the slightest. She merely dropped her blade, and grabbed Chie in less than a second! She proceeded to toss Chie over her head and slammed her on the ground on her back! And for good measure, she flipped herself over and straddled Chie's body, pinning her arms down!

"Nice surprise attack," Yuzu said, "but not good enough to catch me off guard. So, do you surrender?" "O-okay! Okay I-I give!" Chie said, very unhappy about her current situation, her face bright red! "Please get off me now!" "Oh, but you're so adorable!" Yuzu said happily, making Chie's face even more red!

"So, Blake," Yuzu added, "about that sparring match?" "Can I not and say that I did?" Blake asked, now even more stunned. "No," Yuzu replied.

* * *

Naturally the other members of the Investigation Team were not far behind Chie, all except for Naoto accounted for. Naturally annoyed by this fact, Ruby asked where she was and Yu told her that she was in the library doing some research. She skipped her way over to the library in order to find the androgynous detective inside.

Sure enough, she found Naoto standing in the aisle between some shelves, reading about the Grimm. Ruby hurried over with her Semblance, appearing right next to her and shouting - "What're you looking at!?" It naturally scared Naoto out of her skin, and annoyed many of the patrons inside the supposed to be quiet space!

"Ruby Rose," Naoto said, catching her breath, "why do you insist on annoying me so?" "Because it's funny," Ruby said. Naoto rolled her eyes, reminded of some of the more bubbly aspects of Rise back in her world.

"So, in all seriousness," Ruby said, "what're you looking at?" "A book on the Creatures of Grimm," Naoto replied. "I figured that researching before class starts tomorrow would be a good idea, and this would be the safest place to start, considering how we might encounter them in the future. I am truly taken by how horrific in variety the Grimm are."

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, they are pretty nasty aren't they?" she said. "Well, when you finish we're all in the grass outside the courtyard. Blake's gonna fight Yuzu, and I do not want to miss that!"

Naoto waved her off, as she returned to her reading. Ruby was certainly an interesting character. Perhaps she kept coming to her because they were the same age? Maybe. Still, she chose not to bother with it, as she looked at her book for another few minutes.

Ursai, Sea Feilongs, Griffons, Nevermores, Creeps, Goliaths, Deathstalkers, Sphinxes, Geists, the sheer amount of Grimm there were was honestly hard to take in. And there were dozens that had only been mentioned in legend, and there was speculation if they even existed at all. Such as a type that was both man and beast, a rider on his horse fused together with an impossible reach. Or a type that drained your very will to live entirely. Or even a gargantuan Grimm, the most terrible of all, that could secrete other Grimm from its very skin.

Shuddering, Naoto put the book back and decided she had done enough research on that for one day. Or maybe even several. Grabbing a few other books on Remnant history she left the library, her mind running away with stories of the Grimm.

 _Such creatures are so awful to think about,_ she thought. _At least the Shadows had the decency to stay in the TV World, and weren't even inherently evil themselves. But here the people of Remnant are not so lucky. It's hard to believe that they are locked in a never ending battle with these monsters._

 _And... if we can't use our Personas in this world, what chance do we have when we come across even the weakest type of Grimm?_ Her thoughts kept her distracted to the point that she didn't even notice somebody walking past her, and bumped shoulders with them, causing her to drop her books, and the person lose their bag as well! "Oh, sorry about that," she said, gathering her things, "I was too distracted." "It's fine," the person said, grabbing her bag and handing Naoto back one of her books.

It was a girl, a few years older than her it looked, and maybe even older than Narukami, or Yukiko, and most of Team RWBY. She wore a beige, leather, sleevless jacket with brown fingerless gloves, gray pants that was held up by a belt with several brown patches, and matching gray boots. What struck Naoto as the most embarrassing, to the point she didn't make direct eye contact with the person, was the fact that she was wearing no top aside from a sarashi tied around her chest. However, Naoto could understand the confidence this girl clearly possessed, as she did not drop a smile at all as she secured her bag back around her shoulder, with no animosity or hostility or even the slightest bit of annoyance, as she was picture perfect beauty.

She had long, wavy black hair that obscured her left eye and flowed around her shoulders. It looked soft as a cloud. She had a lovely figure as well, full of curves and strength. And a pair of amber colored eyes that were almost glassy and shining. There was not a flaw to be found with her whatsoever.

 _Ruby asks me why I wear such mannish looking clothes?_ Naoto thought silently. _This is why. Because, compared to somebody like this, what good am I whatsoever? Such a boyish looking girl, how could anybody ever find me as beautiful when there's somebody like this that exists?_

"Are you alright?" the girl asked. Naoto blinked before responding. "Uh, yes," Naoto said. "Just, uh, lost in thought again. It's an unhealthy habit of mine it would seem." The girl gave a giggle that sounded as beauteous as the sound of wind chimes. "It's fine," she said. "I like it. It shows that you have a powerful mind." Naoto was touched, uttering a quiet "thank you," in response.

"Say," the girl said, "aren't you one of the new students?" "Huh?" Naoto asked. Were people already hearing about them? "Well, yes," she said. "Yes I am." "Well lovely to meet you," the girl said. "My name is Cinder. Cinder Fall. I'm a transfer from Haven Academy, here for the Vytal Festival." "I'm Naoto Shirogane," the Detective Prince replied. "It's, ahem, lovely to meet you too."

Her face was red hot. There was something about this girl's kindness that was making her somewhat uncomfortable. She seemed to have no limitations, and was more than willing to reach out with open arms, which was a bit much for the rather reclusive detective.

"Well, I hope to see you again in the future," Cinder said, waving as she made her way to the library. "Hm?" Naoto said, surprised by the girl's exit. "Oh, same to you!" She turned to leave herself, but caught sight of something that caused her to turn her head back.

As the girl adjusted the bag over her shoulder, she saw something glowing inside of it with a faint redness. Naoto was thrown for a second, her mind tracing back on itself. Figuring it was merely a Dust crystal, she hurried on her way to meet back up with her team and Team RWBY in the fields.

Cinder however, was not so distracted. In fact, she had gotten exactly what she wanted. The excuse to confront one of the "new students." New students that just so happened to have no records whatsoever, and did not come from any of the schools for the festival.

Yes, there was clearly something else about them. She knew it, and she could bet that Ozpin knew it too. She patted the bag she had on her shoulder, grinning with delight. A bag which, upon her opening the lid to peek inside, revealed something that could lead to utter devastation if left in her hands: the Red Keystone.

Keeping her eye on these kids was going to be so much fun.

* * *

 _ **Earlier:**_

Cinder was expecting any number of things in the future to happen during this little infiltration into Beacon Academy. What she was not expecting however, was students to drop from the sky without warning. She had merely been minding her own business for once in the courtyard, when suddenly the girl she recognized far too well as Ruby Rose, along with two boys she did not recognize, just appeared in front of her. It was as if the world glitched out for a moment, and suddenly there they were, completely unconscious.

Not wanting to take a chance, she moved them all out of sight, before trying to wake them up, but got no response. Any number of variables as to what had caused this soared around in her head, as she simply knelt in front of them, looking them up and down with intrigue. However, she was really caught by something that Ruby had been holding in her hand. She had to pry her hand open in order to see what it was, as Ruby was holding it in a death grip, but finally she let go and Cinder was able to see that Ruby was holding some kind of a red crystal in her hand.

Analyzing it further showed that it was not a Dust crystal, it was something else. Something that Cinder was able to sense giving off a huge amount of magical energy. Magic, something which Remnant believed to be nothing more than the stuff of legend. But it was real, and it was simply pouring out of this crystal in waves.

She looked back down at Ruby, a smile growing on her face. "Oh little red, little red," she said, petting Ruby's face gently. "you are just full of surprises aren't you?"

She called her teammates to help carry the trio of sleeping beauties back to Team RWBY's dorm room, and tossed them inside. Whatever this crystal was, Ruby wouldn't need it anymore. After all, why leave it with her, when it could prove much more useful for Cinder's faction?

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **Freaking FINALLY! Yes, after over a month of no update, I've finally gotten a new chapter up! I would first like to apologize, but after getting one chapter out after another about a week between each other, my brain was sufficiently fried.**_

 _ **But now I am back, and I can hopefully get more chapters up in a much shorter time. Anywho, first things first, I did try to limit things down to this chapter between Ruby and Hyde's point of views, aside from the ending. This chapter was designed mostly just to show the group getting more into a groove now that they're stuck in Beacon. One of the first things I did want to address was the fact that the Investigation Team were all stuck in their Yasogami High uniforms, and I wanted to get them out of those before the day was done. So, here you are.**_

 _ **Within the next chapter, I can imagine things will narrow down even further to just Ruby and her team, Hyde, and Yu with the Investigation Team in support in terms of focus now that class will be in session.**_

 _ **But on a much larger note, we have Hyde dreaming about memories between Ruby and Weiss. What could that mean? Well, for starters, I did want to address the fact that the dream sequence there was actually a part of the Manga Anthology released by Rooster Teeth "Red Like Roses," specifically the one called "That Is Why I'm Here."**_

 _ **The Manga Anthologies as a whole are great, and I eagerly await the chance to own all of them. I included that mainly because of the fact that Ruby never talks about her mother at all in the show itself, outside of the first chapter of Volume 3, where she is actually talking to her at her grave. So that story really stood out, and I think that it was very well done. And you will see many instances of things like this, as Izanami further confuses the group.**_

 _ **But on the subject of Hyde, I really wanted to bring up more of how his brain is twisted in the wake of everything that is happening to him. In the description of this story, I mentioned how Hyde doesn't know who he is anymore, so I at least wanted to keep that involved for a little while longer.**_

 _ **And finally we have Cinder. Yes, of course Cinder is going to be a player in this. If this does take place during the Beacon Arc of RWBY, you know that she has to show up at one point. And now she has the Red Keystone in her grasp. And I am embarrassed to admit that I totally forgot to have the Red Keystone brought up in the previous chapters. But now here it is, in the hands of a villain.**_

 _ **Not much else to say about this one, as it was just sort of grown over time. Could I have added more? Sure. But I didn't want this chapter to become really confused. But hopefully later chapters will prove better.**_

 _ **Once again, let me know what things you would like to see our heroes, or maybe even our villains, do in the future and how you think I can improve. I welcome any suggestions I can get. And please, also let me know if you would like for me to go back and redo the earlier chapters, or if I should just leave them be, as the awkward start I wish I could go back and improve.**_

 _ **And as always, I hope you have a wonderful evening, and thank you for reading! The amount of support I've gotten, really does touch me.**_


	5. Chapter 5: Hard Fought Life Update

_**A New Lease on Life.**_

 _ **Chapter Five: Hard Fought Life.**_

As a member of the Licht Kries, Orie Ballardiae lead a life of professionalism and routine. Never did she step out of line, or risk her reputation as a golden student. One would even think it was a lonely life, but far from it actually. She had friends and partners like Lex, Mika, and Kaguya, whom she pictured living a life dedicated to putting a stop to the evils of the Hollow Night with.

Still, she couldn't deny feeling a tug of longing when she found herself posing as a mundane student in Kanzakai as "Orie Harada."As an In-Birth, she was brought up for a certain purpose, she knew such a life was impossible. Voids would always hunt her to drain her EXS, so she couldn't afford to ever stop fighting.

That's why she had grown to admire those who attended Beacon Academy, like Team RWBY, in the short time she had been aware of them. They _chose_ to be Huntsmen and Huntresses. To dedicate their lives to slaying the Creatures of Grimm. They had a choice... which is more than she could say truly.

True, she wanted to avenge her parents' death at the hands of that Void that could speak like a person, but she never let it completely take her over. She had been raised by the Licht Kries for the majority of her life, and her mission as an Executor had become her main priority. To her, revenge was simply the most worthless of causes.

Now that she was stuck in Remnant however, obviously her duties as an Executor were out the window. So she figured the only thing she could do now would be dedicating herself to her studies in Beacon Academy. If what Ozpin said is to be taken seriously, like it should, they would be treated no differently than any other students aside from being... y'know, foreigners. That meant she would have to put in a lot of effort into her studies, and ensuring that her grades were kept up as much here as if she were back in her own world.

She had gotten up early for her first day of classes, before anyone else in the dorm, even Naoto, and immediately showered and got dressed in the Beacon Academy uniform. By the time she was out, she found Naoto right behind her, and they swapped places, with Naoto going to the shower as Orie finished getting ready outside. As Orie finished brushing her hair, Naoto came out of the bathroom... in a boy's uniform.

As Orie had gotten to know Naoto, she had learnt of her "preferences," so Naoto's request for a male uniform came as no surprise to the Licht Kries member. All the same, she gave the Detective Prince a smirk. "It's comfortable," Naoto said simply, knowing full well what Orie was silently insinuating.

Orie chuckled and turned to the other two beds in the dorm room, to see both Hyde and Kanji still sound asleep. Kanji was one thing, as according to Naoto he didn't exactly have the best of habits, including when it came to sleep. But Hyde was different, as he was usually a very responsible boy. Him sleeping in too late would be out of character.

"Hyde?" Orie said, shaking him gently. "Hyde, wake up!" Hyde merely moaned and muttered in his sleep.

"Something tells me they won't be so easy to rouse," Naoto said. "Perhaps," Orie said, already coming up with a plan. "Sorry Hyde. Hopefully there will be no hard feelings."

She picked up her rapier from its position leaning on the wall, and with a swing she shouted "Thanatos!" An avatar of EXS proceeded to come crashing down upon both boys, who screamed in pain upon awakening!

* * *

Hyde released the yawn of a lifetime as he found himself stumbling down the halls of Beacon Academy later that morning. "Damn," he said quietly. He had an odd time sleeping that night, to say the very least. Same as the night before, he had dreams that behaved more like memories that did not belong to him. And more specifically, memories that seemed to belong to Ruby.

This time around, he saw her comforting that blonde guy he'd seen a few times, John or something like that, saying something about being a leader. She had said that he was a failure, which had sounded surprisingly blunt coming from Ruby, but then she said that he couldn't afford to be one now. "Because it's not just about you anymore," she had said. "You've got a team now Jaune. We both do. And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us. We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second."

Hyde couldn't help but smirk over how she had behaved during that instance. She was remarkably mature, despite normally coming off as a bit of a ditsy, childish girl. Although it had been a rather spur of the moment decision, perhaps they made the right choice in making Ruby the leader of their whole group.

"Something funny?" Orie asked. Hyde looked to see the bluenette that was walking alongside him. After waking up that morning, Naoto and Kanji went on to find the rest of their team, leaving the dual In-Births to themselves. "Forgive me," Orie said, "it's just, you haven't been that smiley in awhile."

"Yeah," Hyde said. "I just... slept well last night. So, what about you? Have you been having any weird dreams?" "Not really," Orie said. "In fact, I haven't had any dreams the past two nights." Hyde scowled a little. That did not seem to bode well for him.

Izanami had said that she would be tormenting _everybody's_ sleep. Yet it seemed to specifically be him that has been affected the past two nights, and nobody else. But why? Hyde wasn't even from Izanami's world. He hadn't met her before he had awoken in that dream world. So why was she so intent on messing with his head?

Regardless, he and Orie got to class on time, to be met by a blur of red and rose petals that came upon them! "Finally!" Ruby said. "You two are the last to arrive! Come on, get inside!" Ruby grabbed onto their hands and pulled them into the classroom, sitting them down in seats next to the rest of Team RWBY!

"She's been frantic over ensuring that everyone get here in time for class," Weiss said. "I suppose," Orie said, "she's doing everything in her power to be a good team leader. I think that's very good of her." "But still," Weiss said, "seeing Ruby being this remarkably responsible is somewhat unnerving."

Hyde couldn't take his eyes off of Ruby. It seemed there was a lot more depth to that girl on the surface than she let on. Even now, as she sat giggling and shaking with excitement like a puppy dog, he couldn't help but wonder what else was going on in her head.

He heard a loud groan right behind him, and turned to see Yosuke slam his head on the desk. "You okay?" Hyde asked. "I still can't believe this," Yosuke replied. "How does that principal or whatever he is think it's a good idea to have us take classes? We're not even from this world. We don't have any idea what's going on!"

"Just relax," Weiss said. "We already went over this! We'll do everything we can to help tutor you." "Oh, yeah," Yosuke said, "tutoring is totally going to help us learn about the geography, history, culture, and pretty much every-freaking-thing else about a world that feels like it was pulled out of a fantasy novel!"

"Would you quit it!?" Weiss said. "At least be happy I'm being so gracious as to help you! But behaving like a brat is certainly not going to help at all, and would actually make me less likely to do so!"

"She's got a point," Yu said. "Come on man," Yosuke said, "have my back in this!" "I'm just saying," Yu said, "she's not that far off. Acting irrationally won't help anything." "Same here," Hyde said, putting his view in on this. "I'm not that happy about having to take classes in this world myself. But I figure the best we can do is endure and trust Team RWBY to help us." "It's not just us either," Ruby said, "Team JNPR will be willing to help to! They said so!"

Everyone collectively turned to the team in question, who'd moved to the second row of seats due to the sheer amount of Phantom Fielders that had been sitting in the spots they typically shared. Jaune currently had a comic in hand that he was giggling like a fool over, Pyrrha sitting dangerously close to him in order to read it with him, Nora was fast asleep, and the only one that seemed to be somewhat acting appropriate was Ren, who was reading a book that fit the class he had propped up on her head. "Joy," Yosuke said. "I'm sure they'll be a... big help." "Y'know Yosuke," Yukiko said, "you're normally a stick in the mud, but this is much even for you." "What do you mean a stick in the mud!?" Yosuke asked nervously.

Before too much longer, the teacher, a round man appropriately named "Professor Port," came inside and began class. Hyde took a breath, cherishing his last moment before his understanding of how he viewed the world, which he now understood as not the only one out there, would irrevocably change forever.

The first period was... odd, to say the least. From what the In-Births and Persona users had been told, Port's job was supposed to be teaching the students about the Creatures of Grimm, those that had been discovered at least, and how to combat them. But for the most part, it seemed that Professor Port wasn't exactly teaching much of anything, but was rather more engrossed with telling tales of old about his youth and all that jazz.

"Is he... supposed to be doing that?" Hyde asked. "He sure seems to think so," Yang replied. Ruby was busying herself by balancing a pencil on her lips, which Hyde was taken by for a moment. He was startled the next moment when he suddenly heard a 'slam!' behind him, and turned to see that Weiss had seated herself between Yosuke and Yu, and had a gigantic book sitting in front of her that she proceeded to open.

"Read," she said to Yosuke, pointing to a particular section. "Wait, huh?" Yosuke asked. "But... uh, that is, shouldn't I be listening to the teacher?" "He scarcely ever teaches anything," Weiss replied. "Your time will be much better spent studying now, rather than later." Yosuke continued to look stubborn, but eventually relented under Weiss's powerful gaze of ice blue eyes, and began reading the passage she was indicating.

Intrigued by what she was looking at, Orie jumped to the row of seats behind her and the Unknown Actor curiously followed. Before long a mini study group had been formed, with Weiss, Blake, and Pyrrha instructing the group. True, Port wasn't exactly doing much, but they still did their best to keep quiet out of sheer politeness.

The classes continued the rest of the day, and Weiss had made it perfectly clear when they got to History that they take as many notes as they can to build upon later when they head to the library to begin studying that afternoon. Nobody was exactly objecting to that, not even Yosuke. But there was a major problem with that, in the fact that the teacher, Profes-er rather, Doctor Oobleck, was a man capable of speaking at a trillion miles per hour!

"Now after the Great War had come to a close," he said rapidly, "the four Kingdoms were at peace with one another, and had since gone their separate ways, though alliances still remained! The Kingdom of Mantle and Mistral continued to trade with one another, buttheyfocusedmoresoontheirownmeansofcontinuingintothefuture,whichcollectivelyhingedsorelyonthedevelopmentofDustinordertocombattheCreaturesofGrimm!"

He took a swig of coffee, as he returned to the board, which showed a large map of the world of Remnant that he gestured to in several different spaces as he continued speaking something outright incomprehensible to his captive audience. "Does... does he honestly need that?" Hyde asked. "He seems to have had quite enough caffeine already." Orie could only nod in agreeance, a look of fear on her face.

Yosuke was trying to keep up in his notebook, but eventually raised his hand due to missing what felt like several sentences at once! "Yessir!" Oobleck said, coming to an abrupt halt in front of Yosuke's seat, startling poor Yosuke! "Uh..." Yosuke said, "do you think you could maybe just, slow down a bit? I'm trying to take notes on what you're saying and it's... difficult."

"Ah yes," Oobleck said, "you must be one of the new students? Your name sir?" "Yosuke. Yosuke Hanamura," the Prince of Junes replied. "Well Mr. Hanamura," Oobleck said, "do you know what the Kingdom of Mantle rebranded itself as after facing many a difficulty against the Creatures of Grimm? And what events particularly lead them to make the decision to transform itself in such a manner?"

"W-what?" Yosuke asked. Chie raised her hand next. "Professor?" she said. "Doctor!" Oobleck said, moving in front of her now. "Uh, whatever," Chie said, "we really... don't know about that stuff." She sweatdropped in dread, as she knew that revealing to everyone that she and her companions were from a totally different world may bring chaos. Especially since they didn't know if Professor Ozpin took the time to actually bother explaining their situation to the other teachers.

"It's just, we're transfers y'know. So we weren't exactly... covering the same things that you are here. So, how can you expect us to answer that?" "Quite right, miss...?" Oobleck replied, prompting her to say her name. "Uh, Satonaka?" Chie said. "Miss Satonaka," Oobleck said. "But you see, in order for me to help you in the future, I expect to know just how far we have to go together! So, can any one of you answer the question?" Naturally, none of them had a response. Well, except for one.

"Atlas," Hyde found himself saying. Everyone looked at him with confused looks. "Come again?" Oobleck said. "Atlas," Hyde said again. "The Kingdom of Mantle became Atlas." "And, can you answer how the Kingdom made its way to becoming what we know today as the Kingdom of Atlas?" Hyde looked thoughtful for a moment, as if struggling to recall something. "I... wasn't it-?" "Don't answer a question with a question my boy," Oobleck said, "you'll find that won't fly in the future." "S-sorry," Hyde said. "I think, it has something to do with them militarizing their country."

"Not far off at all," Oobleck replied. "You see, the Kingdom of Mantle, as it was known then, found that the best way to avoid the Grimm, was to find means to controlling their peoples' emotions, by keeping all freedom of expression from being permitted. By doing so they, in a way, did begin militarizing their entire land. Henceforth, the Atlesian military began to control the central government of Mantle. Thus, Atlas became an entire kingdom unto itself."

"Very well done Mister...?" "Kido. Hyde Kido," the In-Birth said quietly. "Mister Kido," Oobleck said. "It's good to see that one of you began studying before today. All the same, to make certain that all of you are on the same page, you shall go over some of the quizzes and tests we've had last semester. I'm sure again that as your 'guides' so to speak, Team JNPR and Team RWBY will do nothing more than help you in the future in getting on the same wavelength."

As Oobleck returned to his rapid fire demonstration, everyone else turned to Hyde with wide-eyed expressions. "Wow Hyde," Ruby said, "that was seriously cool!" "How did you know that?" Orie asked in awe. "I... I wish I knew," Hyde said.

Something was terribly wrong with Hyde. That much should be clear. But the problem was, he wasn't saying anything about it.

* * *

Yu Narukami had overheard Hyde talking to Ruby the other day, and was touched by how he had confided in her. He hoped that if anything like this would happen again, he would tell somebody else about it. And knowing information about a topic that clearly nobody had informed him about, at least according to RWBY, was definitely up there.

Yu had a feeling this had something to do with Izanami. But why target Hyde? He had nothing to do with her, or the events that had lead up to the Investigation Team eliminating her from the TV World. Whatever the case may be, Yu knew that if Izanami truly was tormenting Hyde in his dreams, Yu would have to put a stop to it.

"Hyde?" Yu asked, as the boys got changed for their combat class with a professor Team RWBY called Professor Goodwitch. "Can I talk to you?" the Investigation Team leader asked. "Sure, what's up?" Hyde asked. He had looked spaced out since history, which did not bode well.

"Hyde," Yu said, "It's safe to say we all know that something isn't right with you. How did you answer that question back there?" Hyde looked downtrodden, before taking a breath. "I don't know," he said honestly. "Does it have something to do with Izanami?" Yu asked. "Not sure," Hyde replied. "Maybe. But it's weird, it had nothing to do with the dreams I've been having."

"What dreams have you been having?" Yu asked. "I'd rather not say," Hyde replied. "Hyde," Yu said, "I can't help you if you don't tell me." Hyde looked Narukami in the eyes, before taking another breath.

"It's been memories," Hyde said. "Not my own. But memories from this world. Memories that belong to... other people. Nothing that could teach me something like how Mantle became Atlas, or something." "That is odd," Narukami said.

"But what worries me the most," Hyde said, "is the fact that I'm the only one that seems to be having dreams like this. Why is that? What do you think Izanami wants with me?" "I'm not sure," Yu replied. "Teaching you about Remnant doesn't exactly fit with what she was doing when we last saw her. But whatever the case, she must see something interesting in you, which can't end well. So the best course would be, having us put a stop to it."

"And do you think you can?" Hyde asked. Yu was taken aback by the determined look that Hyde was giving him. An almost angered expression. "You tried to destroy Izanami once," Hyde said, "and you failed. All you did was destroy her physical form. Do you really think you can kill something that only exists as a psychic form now?"

Yu wasn't offended as he could tell that Hyde was just venting. He was used to dealing with situations like this. So he merely answered as truthfully as he could. "It's not about killing her," he said. "We just have to stop her."

It was now Hyde's turn to look taken aback. "You're right," he said. "Let's just hope that we can. Somehow."

"We will," Yu said. "Like I told you before, you helped one of my friends when they needed someone to help them. That more than makes you a friend of mine. And I take care of my friends. Even if that means protecting them from themselves."

"I didn't really save Yukiko," Hyde said. "I just kept her from eating some toxic looking curry." "I know," Yu said. "But you brought her back to me. You helped her, no matter how small the gesture might've been. That is more than enough for me."

Hyde looked at Yu with admiration. He was really something else, wasn't he? Hyde could see just why Yu was the leader of the Investigation Team, same as why he trusted Ruby as being the leader of their joint team.

The two of them went on to sit in the bleachers for Professor Goodwitch's class. Turns out, she taught Combat. Meaning, they would be able to use their weapons and abilities in sparring matches to learn just how to fight the Creatures of Grimm.

"Alright students," Goodwitch said, "we have a few new classmates joining us today. As such, I feel it's only right that we allow them to introduce themselves to the rest of the class. And of course, in a class like this, the best way to get to know a person, is by analyzing their abilities."

"So, who shall enter the first fight?" "Me!" Chie yelled. "Chie, are you sure?" Yukiko asked. "We don't know if we can use our Personas in this world," Naoto said, "and we already know that people from this world are capable of things that exceed normal human abilities." "Don't worry, I got this," Chie said.

"Very well," Professor Goodwitch said, "now who would like to be her challenger?" Does it even need to be said? Yang naturally got up next to take her on!

Hyde watched the battle with intrigue, looking at the both of them fight, attempting to utilize the "training" that Yuzuriha had set up for them. Speaking of which, where was Yuzuriha anyhow? She hadn't been seen since the other night.

Well he supposed he could worry about that later. Knowing Yuzu, she would sneak up eventually. He kept watching as Chie continued holding her own against Yang, but was merely outmatched. She didn't know if she could use her Persona in this world, and that was normally her trump card. Without it, she was just a fairly skilled human girl that happened to be scary good at kicking. Yang meanwhile had Aura, which allowed her much greater defensive capabilities. Unless you had the utmost superhuman levels of strength, or had a nearly as potent piercing shot, you weren't cutting through Aura.

 _...Okay, now this is just getting annoying,_ he thought. _How the effin' hell did I know that!? I mean, I know that Team RWBY mentioned stuff about Aura or Semblance, but that was beyond what they talked about!_

Chie got throttled the next moment when Yang used her Semblance to blow a crater in the arena floor, knocking Chie off her feet and flat on her back, blasting the air from her lungs! "...no...fair...!" Chie gasped. "I didn't even... get to... see if I... could use m-my... Persona!"

Yang laughed. "Sorry Chie," she said. "But I wasn't losing this fight. Still, you fight good. Kicks are kinda my weakness." Yang helped Chie back to her feet, as Hyde and the other members of... they needed to think of a team name eventually, so we'll just say "Phantom Fielders" gave them both encouraging claps.

"Nice work sis!" Ruby said. "Yeah, you too Chie!" Yosuke said. "Good work to the both of you," Goodwitch said. "Now then, who next?" Orie looked to Hyde without a second's hesitation. "What do you say?" she asked. "Want to go for the round two we never had?"

Hyde was hesitant. With the way his brain was scrambled, he wasn't eager to go into a fight. But he wasn't one to simply turn down a match either.

So, he found himself standing across from Orie in the stadium. Naturally the students were all wondering what could possibly top Yosuke summoning Jiraiya, but they would soon be pleasantly surprised.

Hyde planted his right hand in a fist into the palm of his left, and in a glowing red aura, he summoned his weapon, the Indulgence of Insulation, or Insulator, into his hand! Naturally, this got students to release even more awed expressions! "Did you see that?" one asked. "He just pulled a sword out of his hand!" another said. "How did he do that?" another asked. "Is it made of Dust?"

"So cool!" Ruby said happily. "Eee! No matter how many times I see that, it's always so awesome looking!"

"Ready?" Orie asked. "Ready," Hyde replied. Goodwitch told them to begin, and Orie dove forward, he rapier thrust out! Hyde blocked the strike with Insulator, causing her to falter off to his left from the strike! He attempted a jab with Insulator, but Orie countered it with a high kick, sending him back!

She jabbed again with her blade, catching him in the side, but Hyde pushed her off, and caught her in a series of slashes from Insulator that he powered with his EXS, Void Red! She stumbled from the hits, before catching herself and managing to keep upright! Hyde charged, and Orie responded by thrusting her sword upward, knocking his momentum off!

She slashed at him once and twice, before following up with a kick in the gut, and another into his own leg! He swept her away with his sword, and slammed a blow into the ground, sending out EXS energy to wash over her! She felt the pain from the attack, but did not fall!

Hyde followed up with energized slashes that Orie desperately had to dodge around, unable to deliver her own strikes to retaliate! She had no such advantage on her own weapon, which was nothing more than a simple sword. She found one opening and tried to take it, only to have Hyde slash her in the side! She backed up, as Hyde attempted a serious blow of EXS at her! She jumped back, and used her own power! In a flash of gold, a spiritual figure emerged from her body and blocked Hyde's strike with a blade of their own, before vanishing quick as it came! Thanatos, Orie's own EXS manifested as an avatar.

"What in the name of crap was that!?" Kanji yelled. "Was that a Persona!?" Chie said. "It can't be!" Naoto said. "She's never even heard of a Persona before!" "Perhaps you could say," Yang said, "she didn't know that they _exist_ ed? ...Eh? ...Eh?" "No," everyone collectively said.

Back in the battle, Orie uppercutted Hyde with a maneuver she dubbed "Holy Arrow!" However, Hyde recovered in time to blast her away with a ball of energy he called "Dark Lotus!" She bounced off the ground, and summoned Thanatos in time to knock him back when he tried another midair attack! He fell to the ground, but when Orie tried to press the advantage, he stabbed backward with a move called "Shadow Shock," jabbing her in the gut with Insulator and knocking her back!

It was clear that both In-Births were far from giving up! As Hyde stood to face her, he summoned another attack called "Black Orbiter," as almost a disc of EXS energy he sent toward her! Orie summoned Thanatos again to block the attack, but that was what Hyde was anticipating. He raced around her, and swung towards her with a "Veil Effect!" The blow was enough to stagger her, and he pressed onward!

He knocked her upward with an energized blade, and struck down with another attack! Orie slammed into the ground, air blown from her lungs! However, she still had something left in her! Hyde moved in, and Orie knocked Insulator away with a kick, and followed up by slamming her heel into his jaw with her other leg!

"Dang," Yosuke said, "she's nearly as good with her legs as Chie." "Hey!" Chie said angrily. "I work hard to make my legs my pride and joy!" "Then maybe you should train with her?" Blake asked. "Uh... I dunno," Chie said. "After Yuzuriha, I'm not exactly keen on letting anybody train with me." "Oh come on Chie," Yang said. "I'm sure you'll get a _kick_ out of it!" "Goddammit Yang!" Blake said.

Orie stabbed Hyde multiple times with her sword, before he was able to free himself and graze a hit on her with Insulator! Attempting one final stand, Orie summoned Thanatos to enter a flurry of strikes with its energized body! But Hyde was not backing down either.

He ducked beneath Thanatos's first strikes and stabbed Insulator in the ground! A positive geyser of Void Red EXS came up and eliminated the EXS avatar! As Orie felt the blow, he delivered one final slash to knock her off her feet! Afterwards, she staggered up onto her hands and knees, and Hyde stood over her. He put Insulator in the ground, and offered a hand.

"You fought well," he said. Orie could only smile, saying "you too," in response. The students erupted into applause, all of them awed by their skills and their powers! "So... awesome!" Ruby said. "I don't think there's any Semblance that is even close to being like what they have!" "Their abilities are something else," Weiss said. "I would sure like to know how a Persona user ended up in their world," Yu said. "Narukami," Naoto said, "we don't know if she's a Persona user. It's highly unlikely." "Is the resemblance not uncanny?" Yu asked. "...You do have a point there," Naoto said.

After Hyde and Orie returned to their seats, everyone naturally sat much closer. "Okay, spill," Chie said to Orie. "Huh?" the Licht Kries member asked. "That thing you summoned," Chie said, "what the heck was it?" "It looked just like a Persona to us," Yukiko said. "But you've never heard of them before. So... what was that?"

"That was my EXS," Orie replied. "Hyde and I mentioned before about our own abilities that make us unique. Ours is EXS. And mine manifests as an avatar that I can control. I'll admit, it does seem similar to the Personas that you use. But I can ensure you, on a fundamental level they are really nothing alike."

"But still," Chie said, "it looked just like one!" "Just let it go," Hyde said, "they're nothing alike. Just because they look similar, doesn't mean they are the same." "Hey, relax Hyde," Yosuke said, "we were just curious."

Hyde nodded and apologized. Ruby tilted her head as she looked at the Unknown Actor, wondering just how he was holding up.

* * *

Hyde was rather quiet as he sat down to eat his lunch after class. His mind was reeling with everything that he was going through in his head. Information that he shouldn't know. It was all getting a bit too much for him to bear. And unfortunately, the others were not going to bother giving him the time alone that he desired, as Team RWBY came down upon him as he was minding his own business.

"Okay Hyde," Yang said, "we get that you're upset. We can understand. But we hope that you can help us help you, by telling us what's been going on in that head of yours lately." Hyde sighed heavily. "I already told you," he said, "I don't really know how I suddenly just knew things about Remnant. That was totally beyond me." "But stuff like that doesn't just happen," Weiss said. "What're we missing here?"

"It's about Izanami," Yu said, sitting down beside the others. "Izanami?" Ruby asked. "You mean that ghost lady that we saw outside of Ozpin's office?" Yu nodded. "We think she's been invading Hyde's dreams lately, and that might have something to do with how he suddenly knew more information about Remnant. But why she is doing that is a mystery to us."

"Hyde!" Ruby said. "Why didn't you tell us?" Hyde bit his lip. "It's because... I just didn't know what to do," he said. "Ruby, you should leave him be," Blake said. "Clearly this is a lot for him to take in." "I get that," Ruby said, "but we're a team now. All of us." "She's right," Weiss said. "I know from experience how it feels to not want to bother asking for help from others. But we went through something pretty serious in the past, and it taught us the values of depending on your teammates to be there and to be understanding for you."

Weiss's eyes looked over at Blake, who avoided her gaze, bearing a face that read very clearly that she knew exactly what Weiss was talking about, and did not want to bring it up. "So please," Weiss continued, "if this keeps up, trust in us to be there for you."

Ruby put a hand to Hyde's shoulder, causing him to look her in the eye. "We're here for you Hyde," she said. "We may not have known each other for very long, but we want to help you. _I_ want to help you. It's kinda my fault that you're stuck here and all this is happening to you, so I want to take responsibility for it."

Hyde could not look away as he stared her in the eye. Her eyes were so... amazing. They were not gray whatsoever, they were _silver_. There was just this shine about them, a certain brightness that made them totally distinct.

They were unnatural in their appearance alone, and yet Hyde found no real aversion to them. They were totally beautiful in their own being. That was it. Beautiful.

"You gonna eat that?" Yang asked. Hyde looked down in time to see Yang sneak a chicken nugget off his plate and pop it into her mouth! "Hey!" he said. Ruby laughed happily.

The rest of the day went by uneventfully enough for Hyde. Later that night, he found himself settling into his dorm room for the night. As he exited the bathroom after changing, he found Orie sitting on her bed, waiting for her opportunity to change. "Hey," she said. "Hey," Hyde replied.

"Great fight earlier," Orie said. "You're really something else with that sword." "Thanks," Hyde said. "It's... special." Orie did not know about Insulator's true abilities, and Hyde wasn't exactly keen on the idea of revealing the fact that his sword was actually capable of killing anything. If he did, Linne would probably kill him in turn.

"Listen," Orie said. She hesitated before replying, Hyde sitting himself on his own bed across from her. "Kido," she finally said, "are we... good?" "What do you mean by that?" Hyde asked. "Well," Orie said, "it's just, we haven't really talked about anything that happened back in Kanzakai. So I was just wondering if we were, okay?"

"Sure we're okay," Hyde replied. "I mean, with everything that's happened to us recently, I just figure there wouldn't be a whole lot left to talk about." "But you've been having deep talks with Team RWBY and that Yu guy," Orie said. "You were watching us?" Hyde asked. "Well," Orie said, her face flushing, "it's not like I'm that acquainted with anybody in this world outside of those of us from the Phantom Field. But it's not like I was going to interrupt you either."

"Just, don't misunderstand me either, please. I don't want you to think I'm jealous. I think it's great you're getting to know the others. I hope I can do that too soon. It's just... I can't help but feel like I betrayed you by keeping my life as a member of the Licht Kries a secret. And you were... mad at me."

"Well I'll admit," Hyde said, "the shock of learning you're some kind of a demon hunting, super-nun was pretty heavy." "I'm hardly a nun," Orie said under her breath. "But," Hyde added, "I got over it. Truth be told, I kinda did the same to you by hiding the fact that I became an In-Birth from you. Plus my relationship with Linne. So, I guess we both kinda suck in that regard."

Orie looked relieved, and visibly relaxed. "Look," Hyde said, "I think we just overreacted towards one another. I mean, we only knew each other for a few weeks. That's a short amount of time to feel _betrayed_ by any of this. Even if it's about us being In-Births." "Perhaps," Orie said. "Regardless, thank you Kido." "Your welcome," Hyde said. "We should get to bed before too much longer. Who knows when Tatsumi and Shirogane might come back." "Sure," Orie said, gathering her sleepwear and heading for the bathroom. Hyde meanwhile lay on his bed, on top of the covers, holding the back of his head in his hands as he stared at the ceiling.

All stress between himself and Orie was gone now. That was good. He knew now that he could trust her as a true ally in the near future. Did that mean that he might try and be with her? Well, that was still complicated.

Truth be told, Hyde had never had a girlfriend before. But of course in his adolescent years, as his hormones were on the rise, such a thing was bound to come up, that much was dead obvious. But he'd learnt the hard way that he couldn't just ask a girl to be his girlfriend!

These kinds of things had a lot, a LOT of variables and possibilities. So much as one thing being incorrect would spell utter disaster for him. But that still didn't answer, could Orie be the one?

True, they shared a bond. They had become fast friends back in school due to his gentlemanly nature of offering to become a guide for her. She was just his type too, with that long hair, and her stunning figure. And they clearly shared something with the Hollow Night. But did that mean they could become a couple?

It was too hard to tell. Orie clearly lived a life that was far outside of Hyde's comprehension. Who knows, maybe she was even living a strict life of being a virgin warrior forevermore or some crap like that. In layman's terms, no boys allowed inside. Plus, with all the stuff they were going through with being stuck on Remnant with evidently no way to return, pretty sure the last thing that Orie needed on her plate was the distraction of having to deal with a boy biding for her attention.

Hyde suddenly took a huge yawn once more! He still hadn't gotten a full sleep thanks to the previously mentioned Orie's rude awakening that morning. Before he could even so much as get under the covers, he felt his eyelids closing on their own accord, as his limbs went limp, and he felt himself drifting off to sleep. _Just please..._ he thought. _no weird dreams... m'kay?_

His wish was not granted.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: This chapter just kinda... grew out of nothing. After a lot of pondering on how to start out the Phantom Fielders' days in Beacon Academy, I just sort of did this one as the first thing to naturally come to me.**_

 _ **I tried once more to narrow the focus on the characters down a bit more, looking namely at Hyde and Orie whilst sparkling some of Yu in there too. I really do like Orie as a character, and I want to do a bit more with her, but I didn't know exactly how to do it. But after doing a bit with her in this chapter, I like to think I did good with her.**_

 _ **Another thing I wanted to focus on for this chapter, was the relationship between Hyde and Orie. The original Under Night: In-Birth video game did hint a bit of a possible relationship between the both of them, and I know some people do honestly ship the both of them. So I figured that I'd look at the obvious ideas of how Hyde thinks of Orie after the situation with them during the Hollow Night.**_

 _ **And we also have some more mystery with what's going on with Hyde. How is he able to know about what is happening in Remnant without learning about it? Well, only time will tell.**_

 _ **Now as for the "Update" part of this story. I'm planning on reuploading this story. I was initially going to wait on publishing this chapter until I had a clear goal in mind, but it's been a slow process. So I figured that I'd give you this chapter for now, and announce the reupload.**_ _ **I think that leaving this version of the story is for the best, to savor the initial start of this project, but have a redone version at the same time.**_

 _ **There are many factors that came into it. Unhappy with the inconsistency of the first chapter when compared to the later ones. Some character involvements that I wanted to edit, ergo ones that I no longer wanted to have and some that I feel should be a part of it. Overall just thinking that things could be better than it really is, and wish that I had waited before publishing it.**_

 _ **I've wanted to do a RWBY story ever since I first found the series back in 2015, just before Volume 3 started up. And it went through a lot of phases over time. A LOT. Most of them were embarrassing.  
**_

 _ **One of the earlier ones was an entire rewrite of the RWBY universe in a massive X-Over world with a ton of different action shows. It was really juvenile and looking back on it is completely laughable.**_

 _ **When BBTAG came out, it was a blessing from above. So naturally I learned about the "new" franchises that I was introduced to. And as I said, I feel this story came out too soon.**_

 _ **In other news, there is another story that I plan to publish soon that is unrelated to this one. It's been in the work for nearly a year now, much longer than this one, and has gone through all nine yards of the editing experience to make something I'm proud of and more than happy to publish whilst I go through this little brain child and give it another once over.**_

 _ **Until that time, I thank you all for the amount of support you've shown for this story. It really gives me the effort to keep going and make this story better. To give you something I feel you deserve.**_

 _ **Until then, as always, have a fantastic evening, and whatever other advice you think I should have for the rewrite, please let me know. And I'll see you in my other project, and the redone version of this one!**_


	6. Relocation (Author's Update)

As I sat in front of my desk, my eyes were glued to my screen, where the cursor continued to blink on and off in front of nonsensically scribbled notes, no real coherency behind them. My eyes were wide and bloodshot, my mouth hanging open, and I barely moved an inch. "I don't need it..." I told myself. "I don't need it... I definitely do not need it."

Finally, it came to a point, my teeth grinding together, as something bubbled up inside of me and burst forth! " **I! NEED! IT!** "

My fingers flew across the keys, punching them so hard that I threatened to blister my fingers or bust the keys themselves! A hunger was deep in the pit of my gut! My head was throbbing from how big a storm was brewing in there!

On the opposite side of the room, Ruby, Hyde, Yu, Weiss, and Yosuke were all watching me mixed emotions of worry, concern, or fear. "Uh... do you think he's going to be okay?" Ruby asked. "At this point, no. Not really," Yosuke replied. "This is idiotic," Weiss said. "He's going to give himself an aneurysm."

"Can you blame him though?" Ruby asked. "He's wanted to make something like this for, like, five years! And now that he has a proper excuse to try it, do you really think it's a bad thing that he's as passionate as he is?" "He's going to die," Yu said. "Don't be that morbid!" Ruby said.

"Ruby?" Hyde asked. "Maybe it's the best thing that you go on ahead and talk to him?" "Huh? Me? Why me?" Ruby asked. "He likes you best," Hyde said. "He likes you too!" Ruby said. "He likes all of you! And everyone who's not here!" "Yes," Weiss said. "But that isn't what we're saying." "What Hyde meant is," Yu said, "he does like us, but as he said, he likes you best."

Ruby puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, before she relented with a heavy sigh. "Okay," she said. "But if I get bitten, it's your fault. Just be aware of that."

She took a few cautious steps forward, before poking me gently in the back. "Uh... -?" "Not right now Ruby," I replied. "I've finally got it this time! I totally know what I'm doing!" "Yeah, but -. you've said that for, what, four months?" "Well... yeah, but," I tried to say. "And haven't you felt like giving up in that time due to not having any new ideas?" Ruby asked. "Sure. But not that-" I tried to say, but Ruby cut me off again. "And aren't you really dedicated to this story," Ruby said, "just because you want to show the characters you love together?" "... Maybe," I said.

"You don't have to make this the plot of the next Persona game or something," Hyde said. "Just do what you think is fun. If you're not liking what you're writing, then you shouldn't be writing it."

"We all care about you," Yu said. "And we hate to see you kill yourself like this." "Yeah partner," Yosuke said. "I mean, to me it looks like you've got some real inner conflict going on in there. Just accept yourself and move on." "You really had to make that comparison?" Weiss asked. "What?" Yosuke asked. "It was there!" Weiss rolled her eyes. "Look," Weiss said, "just do what you think is right. For yourself. You have really great ideas in there that deserved to be shown. Just... do it the right way."

I was touched by what they were all saying. It meant a lot to me that they were willing to confront me like this. "Thanks guys," I said. "And I'm... sorry for pushing this so long." "Don't worry about it," Hyde said. "But seriously, at the rate you were going, the fifth franchise of BBTAG would've been announced by the time you were truly satisfied with your new first chapter." "Ain't that the truth!" I said.

"Well, I guess this is happening." "Just know," Ruby said, "we'll be there all the way!" "Thanks again," I said. "And if you have any other ideas, let me know!" "May I?" Weiss asked. "Hold yourself there Ice Queen," Yosuke said, "cause' I think I know where you're going with this." "Shoot," I said. "WHY IN THE WORLDS DO I HAVE TO BE PAIRED WITH-?!" both of them began yelling.

Well, I hope that this whole struggle can finally be set aside. I thank you all again for your patience and cooperation, and I apologize again for why this was taking so long. It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, and I think it's finally time I addressed the biggest issue with this whole thing.

I was trying really, really hard to make some gripping story out of this, and it wasn't meshing well at all. It was aggravating, and way more stressing on my mind than it deserved to be. So, I figured that instead I would focus on the main thing that I wanted to, which was character interactions. Just getting the chance to put characters together and see them do stuff that I think would be fun, and fitting with the franchises they're based on.

I clearly overestimated myself when it came to trying to create a direct sequel to the events of BBTAG's stories, and it ended really poorly. I literally tried rewriting this thing about, eight times at least? Even going back and experimenting with older ideas. It was a horror show. Even with breaks, I was not satisfied with anything I was putting out, and grew to realize why pretty much every other BBTAG story thus far does NOT feature a plot like this.

So, I've decided to throw in the towel and decide, "f**k it! Going strictly zero plot!" So, yeah, this story will now be relocated to a separate document, and exist sorely as one shots that take characters together, and see how they interact at any given situations. Obviously I won't be focusing on EVERYBODY, but mainly characters I'm familiar with. And at the very least, without any major plot, I can actually include characters from the title franchise, Blazblue, who I was trying to incorporate back in at some point due to reactions from some readers and my own hindsight.

Will I try to attempt larger plots again later on down the road? Maybe. Again, I still have some ideas I wanna try executing, but I'll just start with baby steps and see how I feel later. There's somebody still waiting in the shadows that I feel does not deserve to be ignored.

 _ **"I knew you still cared."**_ "What about me?" Izanami asked irritably. "Get back in that corner where you belong!" I said. "You were one of the main reasons for this!" "Ass," Izanami said. "And dude," Hyde said, "were you really gonna have a whole arc about me being-?" "We're ignoring that!" I said. "This is my personal, parting narration part! Everybody else just SHUT UP!"

*Ahem!* So, if you have anymore suggestions or scenarios you would like to see, please feel free to let me know. I'd be happy to hear back, particularly if you want me to leave up this version of the story just for posterity's sake, or if you feel I should take it down, because frankly, I just do not care anymore. Want me to keep it up? Cool, I'll do that. If you want me to take it down. Cool, I have no problem with that.

And for some preliminary questions as of now: What world does will these one-shots take place on? I do not care. Personally, it could be any of them, as I do plan to have multiple landmarks from each world show up. How many characters will show up? As many as I feel comfortable with. Once more, it has to do with how much I know the character, and if I feel I can make some interesting moments with them. But expect representatives from each franchise, including those not featured in BBTAG. Will the characters from the unannounced fifth franchise show up? Of course they will! Like I said, I'm just waiting for when they do in order to do anything with them! So, yeah, we're still waiting on that ArcSystem... You gonna, y'know, announce that at any point?

So, like I said, thank you all again for your patience and consideration. I really do appreciate the positive feedback I've gotten from those of you saying that I've been doing a good job. It really flatters me and makes me feel more confident than I possibly could have before starting this. But in my humble opinion, this draft of the story was awkward, inconsistent, and overall just not as good as I was hoping for. I hope to release more quality stories in the future. And yes, I do plan on releasing an unrelated story to BBTAG at the same time, in case you are interested.

Until then, thank you all once more, and I'll see you in the first one-shots!


End file.
